Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V: Dusk Revolution
by SoulMatter
Summary: Beyond time, beyond space, beyond Realities. Therein lies the Nexus, home to the refugees of the seven Dimensions. Unfortunately, a certain someone is trying to recreate what caused the split… Sporadic Updates.
1. Disrupted Plans

"Miu and the other have already completed their missions and are soon returning." A serious voice was heard. "You two are to go to Academia and steal whatever you can from their databanks."

"You got it."

"Count on us, Uncle Isaac."

Two other voices were heard, one just as serious as the first one, while the other was more easy-going. The first voice continued, after making a pleased noise. "We'll be investigating the new Summoning Method we detected in Standard, Pendulum Summon. Fortunately, Ren has sped up the process significantly, so we were able to make some cards for you. The bad news is that there are only four for both of you, two for each, so you'll have to rely most of the time on your combos and your Extra Deck monsters. We'll have more when you return, hopefully with allies from Standard. You do remember the rest of your mission, don't you? After all, I sent the specifics to you before calling."

"See if Academia has any prisoners and liberate them if possible. It won't matter if there will be or not, since we are to go to Standard right after, alongside with whatever prisoner we free." The second voice replied, earning another pleased noise from the first voice.

Some time passed, with a strange noise breaking the silence for a second, before fading. "They have gone already, haven't they, Isaac?" A fourth voice, a feminine, yet regal one, spoke up.

"...Yes." Isaac replied. "We just cannot help but worry, can we, Eve?"

"...You are correct."

* * *

 **Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V: Dusk Revolution**

 **Arc 1 - Declaration of War**

 **Chapter 1 - Disrupted Plans**

* * *

Someone cursed. It would have been loud, if it weren't for the necessity of silence, as they were in the heart of the enemy headquarters. The speaker was a male teenager sixteen years of age, having messy silver hair with a few maroon highlights and yellow-gold eyes. He wore a black and blue unzipped jacket over a grey shirt, and black pants and boots. A silver pentagonal-shaped Duel Disk was strapped to his left arm, but it wasn't currently in use.

The youth stared intently at the computer screen he had hacked into, which showed information on Academia's plans. The Arc-Area Project, in which Akaba Leo would use the power of Fusion to fuse all dimensions into one, recreating the Original Dimension. "To do that… He'd destroy the very lives that began in the last fourteen years… Akaba Leo…" The youth muttered, his eyes smouldering with fury.

"So, we need to take these girls away from Academia's grasp, don't we?" A second voice spoke up, causing the male youth to turn to his side, where he could see his sister and partner for this mission. She had wavy dark red hair, reaching to her shoulders, grey eyes, and wore an indigo vest over a blue button-up shirt, a blue skirt, black stockings reaching under her skirt, and white boots. A dark green pentagonal Duel Disk was strapped to her left arm.

"Yeah, we do." The youth replied, shutting down the computer and rising to his feet, looking at his sister's eyes. "Hikari, you take Rin. I'll get Ruri, then after we meet up, you take the girls to Standard while I go after Serena."

"Righty-o, Yugure." Hikari replied lazily, before running off to the Eastern Tower. Shaking his head in exasperation, Yugure made to the Western Tower with haste, dark thoughts passing through his mind.

For he remembered what happened that day, fourteen years ago. He remembered his own part on the disaster. That was why, he'd assure the happiness of the Dimensions. He'd not allow Akaba Leo, the man he once saw as family, to ruin the lives of many people for his own selfish goal.

Soon, he arrived at the Western Tower, and was confronted by its guardian. "So, a knight arrives to rescue the princess?" The woman mocked, causing Yugure to narrow his eyes in annoyance.

"Look, lady, I'm in a bad mood right now, so if you value your health, you'll step away right now." He ordered, ready to activate his Duel Disk in the case of a duel, as it always happened.

"I obey no orders from you, _boy_." She instantly made a hundred-eighty at Yugure's rudeness, activating her own Duel Disk. "Since you're very obviously an intruder, I'll have to card you."

Yugure hmpf'ed, activating his Duel Disk and revealing a sickly green blade. "You can try, lady."

[DUEL!]

Yugure - LP: 8000

Diana - LP: 8000

"I'll go first!" The guardian spoke arrogantly. "I am Diana, and you'll feel the power of the goddess of the moon! I activate Fusion, fusing Guardian Baou and Moon Soldier Lady in my hand!"

The two monsters appeared on the field before swirling in a Fusion Vortex, as she chanted.

 _"When the shining moonlight hits the Flamberge, the two warriors become one! Fusion Summon! Descend, Lunar Keeper (LV: 7/_ ATK: 2100 _/DEF: 2400)!"_

The monster appeared on the field, and Diana continued. "Lunar Keeper's effect! Once per turn, I can Special Summon a Keeper's Shield Token (LV: 1/ATK: 0/ _DEF: 0_ ) in defense! And while I control a Keeper's Shield Token, Lunar Keeper cannot be targeted by attacks. I set a card and end my turn."

Yugure eyed the two monsters warily, before sighing through his nose as he drew. "My turn, then." His gaze suddenly turned sharp as he added the drawn card to his hand and grabbed another. "I summon Blood Hunter Deceased Warrior (Dark/Fiend/Effect/Level 4/ _ATK 1900_ /DEF 500)!"

Deceased Warrior was a spirit wearing torn and bloodied rags that resembled a nobleman's, and holding a broken sword. Its spectral guts were spilling from its stomach, and there was a hole where its heart should be.

"Deceased Warrior's effect." Yugure continued. "Once per turn, I can reduce the attack and defense of all monsters you control by 300 for every "Blood Hunter" monster on my field. Since there's only Deceased Warrior, you know the value (Lunar Keeper: ATK: 2100 》1800/DEF: 2400 》2100)."

"Next, I activate the Magic Blood Hunter's Mad Feast, allowing me to Special Summon a "Blood Hunter" monster from my deck for every monster you control with attack or defense lower than a "Blood Hunter" monster I control. Since you have two, I Special Summon Blood Hunter Grievous Shrieker (Dark/Fiend/Effect/Level 2/ATK 600/ _DEF 1100_ ) and Blood Hunter Despised Necromancer (Dark/Fiend/Tuner/Effect/Level 2/ ATK 100/ _DEF 900_ )."

Grievous Shrieker was a poltergeist with a large mouth full of serrated teeth, and an open chest cavity, revealing exceedingly large lungs, that filled the entirety of its body above its waist.

Despised Necromancer was a demonic-looking former human, with a bloodied devil's horn jutting out of its left forehead through a hole it carved itself, and the right half of its face was a twisted mess, with an inhuman green eye and large fangs coming out of the remnants of its mangled mouth. It wore dark robes, and its skin was an inhuman grey, with sickly green veins running through it.

"How the hell can you use these monsters and not be grossed out!" Diana demanded, looking sick simply from looking at them.

"I designed them. Of course I can do so. Grievous Shrieker's effect activates. When this card is summoned, your monsters lose 300 attack and defense for every "Blood Hunter" monster I control (Lunar Keeper: ATK: 1800 》900/DEF: 2100 》1200)." Yugure said blandly, eyeing Diana as if she was an idiot.

"Next, I tune my Level 2 Tuner Despised Necromancer to my Level 2 Grievous Shrieker and Level 4 Deceased Warrior." He announced, the tuner transforming into two technological green rings, while the non-tuners turned collectively into six stars, that formed a line that went through the two rings, just before a white lightning bolt shot through them, as he chanted.

 _"Mad beast lusting for the red ichor, led by the powerful scent, emerge from the empty limbo. Synchro Summon. Level 8, Blood Hunter Crazed Werewolf (Dark/Fiend/Synchro/Effect/Level 8/_ ATK 2700 _/DEF 1900)."_

Crazed Werewolf was a deformed humanlike wolf, with bloodied fangs and red flames for eyes. Its bloodstained fur was of a dark grey, and it had large gashes through its body, through which its own broken bones jutted out.

"Crazed Werewolf's effect-"

"I activate my Trap, Admiration of the Keepers!" Diana interrupted. "By targeting a monster on your field that was summoned from the Extra Deck, I negate its effects and Special Summon two Keeper's Shield Tokens!" Two more tokens were summoned in defense with its null defense, as a blue sparkly aura covered his werewolf.

"Hoh?" Yugure raised an eyebrow, curious. "Interesting."

"Furthermore, your monster must attack all Tokens I control, or it will be destroyed at the end of the Battle Phase!" Diana gloated, grinning fiercely at Yugure.

Unfortunately for her, she did not get the reaction she wanted from Yugure. He yawned. "Is that it?"

"Why you… Just give up! With my invincible combo, it won't be long before your defeat!" Diana snapped, causing Yugure to look at her with an uninterested look.

"Lady, that combo isn't invincible as shit. A good Cyclone can destroy that Trap, plus a Black Hole or Thunder Bolt get rid of all monsters you control without even entering the Battle Phase." Yugure lectured her. "In addition, I can simply not enter the Battle Phase at all."

"You dare lecture me!?" Diana shouted, angered at Yugure's nonchalant attitude.

"Yes. Magic Card, Blood Hunter's Second Chance. By sending a Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, Ritual or Link Monster from my field back to the Extra Deck, I Special Summon the monsters used as its materials back from the Graveyard." He bluntly stated, before playing his next card. Deceased Warrior, Grievous Shrieker and Despised Necromancer returned to the field.

"Since the targeted monster left the field, your Trap is destroyed. Now battle." Admiration of the Keepers vanished in a shower of yellow particles, as Yugure entered the Battle Phase. "Warrior, Shrieker, Necromancer, begone with her Tokens."

The three Tokens were destroyed, and Yugure sighed. "Now Lunar Keeper lost its shields-" It was at that moment that he noticed something. "...I assume it was Lunar Keeper's last effect?"

The reason for that inquiry was the fact that his monsters had all lost 800 attack each, and Diana's Life Points were 2400 points higher (Deceased Warrior: ATK: 1900 》1100|Grievous Shrieker: ATK: 600 》0|Despised Necromancer: ATK: 100 》0).

Diana - LP: 8000 》10400

"Yes." Diana replied. "For every Keeper's Shield Token destroyed, the monster that destroyed it loses 800 attack points, and I gain 800 Life Points. Now you see why there is no hope for victory!?"

Yugure kept silent, until he didn't. "...Despised Necromancer's effect. During either player's Battle Phase, I can perform a Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, Ritual, or Link Summon using monsters I control. I once again use these monsters to Synchro Summon Crazed Werewolf." The 2700-ATK werewolf reappeared on the field, howling in pain from its injuries.

"What!?" Diana shouted in surprise.

"Crazed Werewolf's effect." Yugure said, looking bored out of his mind already. "When this card is Synchro Summoned, all monsters you control lose 300 attack and defense for every "Blood Hunter" card in the Graveyard. With my three monsters and my two Magics, the total is five, making the lost value 1500 points (Lunar Keeper: ATK: 900 》0/DEF: 1200 》0)."

"Now, Crazed Werewolf's second effect. By targeting a monster you control whose attack and/or defense is lower than is original value, you take damage equal to the difference between the original and current value, and my monster gains attack and defense equal to the damage you took."

As Lunar Keeper's attack and defense were zeroed, a far cry from its 2100 attack and 2400 defense, Diana took a whopping total of 4500 points of damage, that were also added to Crazed Werewolf's attack and defense (Crazed Werewolf: ATK: 2700 》7200/DEF: 1900 》6400).

Diana - LP: 10400 》5900

"You lose. Crazed Werewolf annihilates Lunar Keeper." Yugure deadpanned, and soon enough, the Fusion Monster was ripped apart, erasing Diana's remaining Life Points.

Diana - LP: 5900 》0

Yugure Wins!

Seeing his unconscious opponent, Yugure huffed. "I told you I was in a bad mood. Now, to bust Ruri out of her cell…"

Walking up to the door, he knocked on it. "Oi, you in there, are you away from the door?"

"W-Who are you?" A female voice asked in response, and he sighed.

"Just answer. Are you away from the door?" He said, deadpanning as he began to stretch his leg.

There was silence, before some footsteps could be heard going away from the door. "...Yes."

"Well, then, since I don't have the key…" Yugure said, winding up his foot. "Open Sesame!"

And he kicked the door open, most likely shattering the lock beyond repair. He walked inside nonchalantly, having placed his hands on his pockets right after he knocked. Looking at the wary girl inside, however, he did this best to give her a reassuring smile. Unfortunately, it came off as some sort of hesitant smile. The girl, that he correctly assumed was Ruri, had backed away from him, while also frowning at his strange smile.

"Who are you?" She asked, wary.

"I'm Yugure. Now come on, I'm busting you out of here." He gestured at her to follow him, and he began to walk away, crossing his arms behind his head. Upon not hearing footsteps, however, he looked back, to see Ruri with an utterly confused expression oner face.

"Why? Why are you rescuing me, someone you don't even know?" She asked, doubt lacing her voice.

Yugure kept silent for a while, before bringing his arms down and clenching his fists, as he shot a smouldering glare at the wall, a glare so heated that Ruri almost believed it would actually melt the wall. "...Because I know Akaba Leo's plan. And I know both the costs and consequences. That's why, I'm going to disrupt his plans as much as human, or inhumanly possible."

He softened his look, before gazing at Ruri with the ghost of a smile. "That's why I'm saving you. You are important to Akaba Leo's plans, and as such, I'll deny him its completion." He took a deep breath, before holding out a hand to Ruri. "So? Will you come with me, to a likely encounter with your friends in the future? To the possibility of a future peace?"

Ruri kept silent, before finally taking Yugure's hand, after grabbing a deck from the drawer near her bed at the prison. "You better make good on that promise." She said, earning a smirk from Yugure.

"Is that a challenge?" He asked, and Ruri couldn't keep the confusion out of her expression at the youth's change of personality, from uncaring and nonchalant, to fiery and gentle.

"If you believe it so." She replied.

Soon enough, they were both running down the tower's staircase, having blatantly ignored Diana's unconscious figure on the top, except for a very brief moment, and Ruri was busy trying to fiddle with the Duel Disk Yugure stole for her from Diana in the brief moment they did not ignore her.

"Oi! Yugure!" They looked up to see Hikari making her way to them, followed by a green-haired girl Yugure assumed must have been Rin. Once they reached each other, Hikari brought Yugure into a hug. "We've done it, brother!"

"Yeah, no. You know I'm averse to hugs." In response, he merely pushed her away, starting a rather amusing scene where Hikari kept trying to hug Yugure, but his hand on her face prevented that. He looked towards Rin. "You must be Rin. Has Hikari told you everything already?"

The girl hesitantly nodded, grasping the Duel Disk Hikari must have snatched from her tower prison's Guardian, as she and Ruri stared at each other's face. Yugure sighed. "Look, I may have an hypothesis for your identical faces, but this is not the time. Hikari, take them to Standard, as we agreed."

"Yeah, yeah." The girl in question pouted at the lack of opportunity to bury Yugure into one of her infamous bone-crushing hugs, but she quickly recovered, and gestured at the two girls. "C'mere, we need to get away from Academia. Yugure will snatch our last goal and meet up with us in Standard later, enough time for me to be an exposition fairy."

Seeing as the two had been nothing but sincere so far, Ruri and Rin agreed, with the former shooting a look at Yugure before they teleported away in blue sparks. He sighed through his nose, before turning towards a large rock, narrowing his eyes at it. Honestly, it wouldn't take much time before he arrived into Standard. After all, if the silhouette he saw out of the corner of his eye while he fended off Hikari was the person he sought…

"I know you're there. Come out." He said, his low voice carrying through the silent coastal area, where the only sounds came from the sea, that was unusually calm during that time. Sure enough, the third girl with the same face came out from behind the rock, shooting a glare at Yugure. "Before you ask, it was a combination of dumb luck and your own carelessness that led to your discovery."

"Who do you think you are, coming here only to hinder our noble goal?" She demanded, raising her left arm, which contained her Duel Disk.

Yugure snorted. "Noble? You call mass genocide noble? You call killing people noble?" He shot his signature smouldering glare at Serena, cowing her. "You call destroying the lives of millions, if not billions of people, noble!?"

She flinched at that, before recovering. "And why should I believe you!? For all I know, you could be lying!"

Yugure blinked, suddenly cancelling his glare and making Serena stumble a little, as his glare had a certain psychological pressure to it that caused the target to feel as if here were an actual pressure over them. "Good point. I hadn't thought like that. But, I can prove my words."

"How?" She challenged.

In response, Yugure held out a hand. "Come with me and I'll take you to someone who will prove them. They are living proof that Academia's goal is not noble nor just."

"And for all I know, you could be leading me into a trap." Serena countered, growing annoyed.

Yugure deadpanned at her. "Girl, you're either coming with me voluntarily or I'll hoist you up my shoulder like a sack of potatoes and bring you with me by force. For the sake of my patience, please don't choose the second option."

Serena fumed for a few moments, before stomping over to Yugure and slapping his hand. "Fine! I'll come with you, if only to prove you wrong!"

Yugure gave a brief smile, before becoming serious and tapping away at his Duel Disk, Serena hovering impatiently next to him. "Okay, we'll be going to the Standard Dimension to meet up with my sister and the person who'll tell you the truth, so-"

He cut himself off as he caught something with the corner of his eyes once more. "Watch out!" He threw himself in front of Serena as a lightning bolt was hurled at them. He blocked it with his Duel Disk, which forcibly activated the Dimensional Jump, taking both himself and Serena, much to Akaba Leo's consternation, as the last thing he saw before they vanished was Yugure's yellow-gold eyes filled with anger and hatred boring a hole on his own eyes.

* * *

A while later, Yugure groaned, slowly opening his eyes. His eyelids fluttered as he struggled to keep his lunch in, as the mission had been set right after midday, and the emergency travel was quite a bitch to the stomach. Before he fully allowed his vision to settle, he focused on what his body was feeling, soon determining he was laying on a bed. A really comfortable one, at that.

Leaning on his elbows, he sat up, scanning the room he was in with narrowed eyes. It didn't have much decoration, only the bare essentials such as a bed, a wardrobe and a nightstand. A glance to his left made him revise his scan. "Scratch that, two beds." He muttered, having seen Serena laying down on another bed to his left. All in all, that led to a single conclusion that he thought the most likely.

Someone had found the two unconscious teens and brought them to their house, leaving them to sleep peacefully on their guest room. Quickly glancing around once more, searching for something in specific, he sighed as soon as he saw it. Since he didn't feel the familiar feeling of his Duel Disk on his arm, he assumed it had been taken away from him. Luckily, it had been placed on the nightstand next to his current bed, just like Serena's.

"Oh, you're awake!" An older, female voice made to his ears, and he snapped his head towards the door, seeing a young woman enter, giving him a pleasant smile. "When my son and his friend found an unconscious couple in the park, with one looking like they were burnt somewhat fierce, they were really worried. Though, seeing as your injuries are gone, I assume it was a duel that got you like that?"

He hesitantly nodded, a bit taken aback by the woman's somewhat cheery attitude. "Y-Yeah. I'm Yugure, and the girl on the bed is Serena. Thank you for allowing us to stay here while we slept and recovered." He replied, bowing his head in thanks.

"It wasn't trouble, really. I'm Sakaki Yoko. But imagine my surprise when my son told me the couple appeared out of nowhere in a flash of blue sparks, and that the girl had the exact same face as his friend." The woman, Yoko, smiled, before narrowing her eyes at Yugure, who blinked in surprise. "Thanks to my husband telling me about this all these years ago, from which Dimension are you two from?"

Yugure was flabbergasted. He assumed only the Fusion and Xyz Dimensions were aware of the others, thanks to the former invading the latter, and, in addition, the Ritual and Link Dimensions as well, in account of their comrades' intervention. "How do you know about them?" No use denying it, as her son told her him and Serena had appeared out of thin air.

"My husband, Sakaki Yusho, went to another one to search for his friend, who also went to another." She replied. "Before he went, he told me about this, in case he didn't return in time for his title defense duel."

"One question." Yugure's eyes narrowed, as his mind instantly went to a single person, who had been reported to have arrived in the Fusion Dimension three years ago. "Was your husband's friend Akaba Leo?"

Yoko blinked in surprise, before giving him a sharp look. "Did you see them?"

"Akaba Leo only. And if there's a person I could truly hate, it would be him." Yugure spat, hatred welling up inside him as his expression turned dark.

"Why so?" Yoko's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"It's a long story." He countered.

"I have all the time."

He sighed. "Well, then, get comfortable, because it is a long story…"

With that, he explained everything to her, from the Original Dimension, to the other Dimensions and what they had, as all she had was the bare basics, of Academia's massacre of the Xyz Dimensions, and of Akaba Leo's plan.

Yoko was obviously horrified, and demanded proof, that Yugure gave her by showing her the files he stole from Academia. Since they were hidden in his own Duel Disk's files, to prevent any possible hacker to find it carelessly, it took quite some time to find them. In the meantime, Serena awoke, and was heavily confused, along with annoyed at Yugure and shaken that someone from Academia would even attack her. He managed to convince her with his pictures of Heartland and the video of the invasion, that showed civilians that didn't duel getting carded.

When the explanation was finished, Yugure finally couldn't hold his urge anymore, and quickly asked for the bathroom, his face turning green as he placed his hand in front of his mouth, Serena following suit. Once his lunch was flushed down the toilet, he allowed himself to relax. "Damn, the emergency travel is a pain on the stomach…" He grumbled, supporting Serena, who had lunch late, and as a result, had a full belly right before the emergency travel, and therefore, the worst reaction.

"Can't it be made better?" Serena asked, pushing Yugure away as she managed to regain her balance, annoyed that she had to be supported by someone.

"Unfortunately, it's the suddenness of the travel that makes it so efficient and uncomfortable." He replied. "Before you complain, keep in mind that anyone with that function on their Duel Disks gets like this."

Yoko eyed them critically, before shrugging, a 'what can you do?' smile on her face. "Hey, you two. Come on, I'll make some food for you, since I assume that was your lunch."

Yugure covered his mouth and looked away slightly in embarrassment, while Serena just nodded in gratitude.

* * *

Later, Yugure and Serena were walking around Maiami City, after thanking Yoko for the food and promising to return after they found his sister and the two girls. Serena was oddly subdued after the revelations, but he guessed that was par for the course, since her worldview was shaken to its core. After all, from what he got from her files, he knew she lived practically her whole life in Academia, and both didn't know a life outside of it, nor of a truth other than Academia's.

He sighed, and glanced briefly at the hooded girl. Since Yoko had told them her son's friend had the same face as Serena, he saw fit to produce a hooded coat for her. Bless Real Solid Vision. He frowned. Damn, it looked like he'd have to comfort her… Screw that, he'd shove that task to Hikari when they met her. Women were the single thing he had literally no clue about, so he guessed that a woman would understand another.

He looked around, and noticed they were getting curious looks from the passersby, but a subdued glare from him made them turn away hastily. And bless his mother for teaching him how to properly glare at someone or something. Seriously, her glares were the stuff of nightmares, especially her smile… Yugure involuntarily shuddered. His uncle Ren was subjected to The Smile one too many times, and is genuinely afraid of his own glare.

After searching for a while, Yugure noticed a masked person standing nearby, as they approached an alley. Noting down the Duel Disk on that person's arm's shape, and comparing it to Luna's description of the Xyz Dimension's Duel Disk, he quickly came to a single conclusion, matching up everything that he knew before he came to it. Someone from the Xyz Dimension had come to Standard. They were likely after Akaba Reiji, Akaba Leo's son.

...And both were possible allies. Well then, time to lay down the bait, as he noticed the masked person had their focus trained on one of LDS' instructors, thanks to the information he managed to gather last time he came to Standard. "I never thought that after leaving Academia, it'd take all this time to find Hikari and the others…" He grumbled, loud enough for both Serena and the masked person to hear. He sighed loudly, before gesturing at Serena. "C'mon, let's search the alleys, maybe they are hiding there to avoid detection from LDS."

"...Okay." Serena agreed, shooting him a curious look. After they entered the nearest alley, the one where the masked person had gone into, likely to prepare an ambush. "Why did you say that out loud?" She asked, giving in to her curiosity.

"I found someone from the Xyz Dimension." Yugure whispered in response. "You can likely get your answers from them. Plus, they're a possible ally."

They stopped in the middle of the alleyway, and Yugure looked around. "Oi, come out. I know you're there, why do you think I said those words loudly earlier."

"...Are you from Academia?" The person asked, coming out from his hideout with his Duel Disk activated. The voice was decidedly male, and due to the Duel Disk, Yugure safely assumed he wouldn't be leaving without dueling him.

"My answer doesn't matter, does it?" He remarked, activating his own.

"You're right it doesn't, Academia Scum!" The person exploded, as the Duel Disks connected.

Serena flinched away at the loud noise, causing Yugure to frown. Based on the files, Serena was headstrong and confident, so why was she acting subdued? Shaking his head to get rid of unnecessary thoughts, both him and the masked duelist drew their hands. "I'm Noroi Yugure. May I ask your name, Xyz Refugee?"

"Kurosaki Shun. Listen well, because that is the name of your executor!" The masked person, Kurosaki replied, as the duel began.

[DUEL!]

Yugure - LP: 8000

Kurosaki - LP: 8000

"You may go first." Yugure conceded, after looking at his hand. Similarly to his previous duel, it wasn't one that allowed him to form a proper defense on the first turn.

"Very well." Kurosaki took it. "I Summon Raid Raptors - Tribute Lanius (LV: 4/ _ATK: 1800_ /DEF: 400), and activate its effect! Since this card was Summoned this turn, during the Main Phase, I can send a "Raid Raptors" from my deck to the Graveyard! I send my Mimicry Lanius, and activate its effect, banishing it to add a "Raid Raptors" card from my deck to my hand! I add Raid Raptors - Nest!"

Yugure frowned at that, noting down the play style of his opponent's deck. Probably swarming for Xyz Summoning, but he was unaware of the Xyz Monsters' effects. "Next, I activate the Magic Swallow's Nest, tributing the Level 4 Winged Beast Tribute Lanius, in order to Special Summon a Winged Beast with the same level from my deck! Come, Raid Raptors - Vanishing Lanius (LV: 4/ATK: 1300/ _DEF: 1600_ )!"

"Vanishing Lanius' effect! Once per turn, I Special Summon a Level 4 or lower "Raid Raptors" from my hand! Come, Fuzzy Lanius (LV: 4/ATK: 500/ _DEF: 1500_ )! Now, I activate The Permanent Magic Raid Raptors - Nest! Once per turn, if I control two or more "Raid Raptors" monsters, I add a card from said archetype from my deck to my hand! I add Singing Lanius!"

"That's a great combo." Yugure genuinely praised his opponent, impressed with the Raid Raptors' abilities.

"Praise all you want, you won't escape your doom! With the Level 4 Vanishing Lanius and Fuzzy Lanius, I build the Overlay Network!" The two monsters became streams of energy, before diving into a yellow galaxy, a blue beam of energy shooting from the center right after, as Kurosaki chanted.

 _"Avian hunter of the afterlife, seek the truth with your dark eyes, and grasp glory with your sharp talons! Xyz Summon! Take flight! Rank 4! Raid Raptors - Force Strix (RNK: 4/ATK: 100/_ DEF: 2000 _/OU: 2)!"_

The monster appeared, as Yugure's opponent continued. "Force Strix's effect! Once per turn, by detaching one Overlay Unit, I can add a Level 4 Dark Winged Beast from my deck to my hand (Force Strix: OU: 2 》1)! I add another copy of Tribute Lanius! Next, since the card I detached was Fuzzy Lanius, I can add another copy of the monster from my deck, since it was sent to the Graveyard!"

"He summons these monsters while also keeping his hand consistent…" Serena said, eyeing the duel critically. "I do not understand why he doesn't summon a stronger monster, but that style is an efficient one."

True to her words, Kurosaki's hand was currently at five. However, it was about to become two. "Since I control a Xyz Monster, and a "Raid Raptors" monster, I Special Summon Singing Lanius (LV: 4/ATK: 100/ _DEF: 100_ ) and Fuzzy Lanius from my hand, respectively! Furthermore, Fuzzy Lanius doesn't allow me to summon any monster that is not a "Raid Raptors" monster, but I see no problem with that."

As he said that, Force Strix grew in attack and defense (Force Strix: ATK: 100 》1100/DEF: 2000 》3000). "Plus, Force Strix gains 500 attack and defense for every Winged Beast on my field other than itself! Next, I activate Raid Raptors - Sanctuary, drawing two cards since I control three "Raid Raptors" monsters!" He drew, raising his hand to four.

"Next, I activate the Permanent Magic Sparrow's Gathering!" The card appeared on the field. "Now, every time a Winged Beast monster is Summoned, I draw a card! After this, I use Singing Lanius and my second Fuzzy Lanius to Xyz Summon another Force Strix!" The Rank 4 Xyz Monster appeared again, both copies having 600 attack and 2500 defense, due to there being two Winged Beasts on the field. "I detach Singing Lanius from my second Force Strix to add Raid Raptors - Retrofit Lanius from my deck to my hand, and I draw a card thanks to Sparrow's Gathering (Force Strix #2: OU: 2 》1)!" His hand size was back at five.

"Finally, I activate Xyz Treasure, drawing two cards since there are two Xyz Monsters on the field!" Seeing the cards he drew, he set one of them on the field, before ending. "I set one card and end!"

"Finally. My turn." Yugure remarked, drawing a card. "I activate the Magic Blood Hunter's Sudden Assault, Special Summoning a "Blood Hunter" monster from my deck if you control more monsters than I do. Furthermore, your monsters lose 300 attack and defense for every Level the summoned monster has. I summon Blood Hunter Vengeful Revenant (Dark/Fiend/Effect/Level 5/ _ATK 2200_ /DEF 1600), with a Level of 5, meaning your Strixes lose 1500 attack and defense (Force Strix x2: ATK: 600 》0/DEF: 2500 》1000)."

"What?" Kurosaki exclaimed, while Serena's eyes widened.

Vengeful Revenant was spectral-like being that resembled a zombie, with its skin full of wounds and decaying, a "skin-and-bone" appearance, no flesh to be seen, sunken eyes that glowed with an eerie green light, many missing teeth, and wearing torn and bloodied rags.

"Furthermore, Vengeful Revenant's effect activates. Since it was Special Summoned, your monsters lose 300 attack and defense for every "Blood Hunter" card banished or in the Graveyard. Also, I activate its effect, sending it to the Graveyard once per turn. And since Vengeful Revenant is instantly Special Summoned when it is sent to the Graveyard, your monsters lose 300 more (Force Strix x2: DEF: 1000 》400)." Yugure said, as Kurosaki's Xyz Monsters lost even more defense.

"Battle. Vengeful Revenant attacks the first Force Strix you summoned."

"I activate my Trap! Raid Raptors - Readiness! This turn, my "Raid Raptors" monsters cannot be destroyed by battle!" Kurosaki countered, his Strixes' wings blocking Revenant's claws.

Yugure clicked his tongue. "I set two cards and end my turn. At the End Phase, your monsters regain their lost stats (Force Strix x2: ATK: 0 》600/DEF: 400 》2500)."

"My turn!" Kurosaki drew. Before he made any move he stared at Yugure, that couldn't see his eyes and face under the bandana and goggles. But he guessed Kurosaki was most likely glaring at him.

"After I win, I'll force you to tell me where Ruri is!" He declared, making Yugure smirk and snicker.

"I have a better idea." He proposed. "After this duel ends, I'll actually take you to her, since she arrived in Standard a few hours ago."

"What!?" Kurosaki exclaimed.

Yugure's smirk turned malicious at that. "I'm sure she would be delighted to see her brother."

"You bastard…" His opponent growled at that. "I activate the Permanent Magic Rank-Up Climbing! Once per turn, I add a "Rank-Up-Magic" from my deck to my hand! I add Rank-Up-Magic Raid Force, and then activate both my Force Strixes' effects, adding a second copy of Vanishing Lanius and Booster Strix to my hand, and since a second Fuzzy Lanius was sent to the Graveyard, I add the last one (Force Strix x2: OU: 1 》 0)!"

"Rank-Up-Magic?" Serena parroted, not having been aware of the Xyz Dimension's signature evolution of their Summoning Method.

With that, Kurosaki's hand raised to nine. "Next, I activate Raid Force, targeting my first Force Strix and using it to Xyz Summon a "Raid Raptors" monster one Rank higher!" The galaxy appeared, as Kurosaki chanted.

 _"The unseen bold falcon. Reveal your wings' unknown power here and now! Rank-Up Xyz Change! Come forth! Rank 5! Raid Raptors - Étranger Falcon (RNK: 5/_ ATK: 2000 _/DEF: 2000/OU: 1)!"_

The monster appeared, as Kurosaki drew one more card thanks to Sparrow's Gathering, keeping his hand at nine. Yugure's smirk turned into a calculating gaze, as he looked warily at Kurosaki's field. "Magic Card, Otherworld Xyz! I use monsters with the same Level in my Graveyard or Banished Zone to Xyz Summon! I use my banished Mimicry Lanius and the Tribute Lanius in the Graveyard to Xyz Summon my last Force Strix (Force Strix #1: ATK: 600 》1100/DEF: 2500 》3000|Force Strix #2: ATK: 100 》1100/DEF: 2000 》3000)!"

"Three copies? Then again, that is an useful search engine…" Yugure muttered.

"I draw a card from Sparrow's Gathering and use my third Force Strix's effect to add a second copy of Mimicry Lanius from my deck to my hand by detaching the first copy, that I once again banish, this time to add Napalm Dragonius from my deck to my hand." Kurosaki continued, as his hand size increased to eleven.

"Next up, with Nest's effect, I add Singing Lanius from my Graveyard to my hand!" He grabbed the card, raising his hand to twelve. "After this, I activate Rank-Up-Magic Skip Force, targeting my second Force Strix without materials to Xyz Summon a "Raid Raptors" monster two ranks higher!"

 _"Prideful falcon. Spread your wings, dyed in the blood of heroes, and charge through the path of revolution! Rank-Up Xyz Change! Appear! Rank 6! Raid Raptors - Revolution Falcon (RNK: 6/_ ATK: 2000 _/DEF: 3000/OU: 1)!"_

The monster appeared, Kurosaki drawing a new twelfth card from Sparrow's Gathering. "I activate Raid Force's effect on the Graveyard! By banishing itself plus a "Raid Raptors" monster, I add a "Rank-Up-Magic" from my Graveyard to my hand! I banish Fuzzy Lanius to add Skip Force!"

"Now, I activate Étranger Falcon's effect! By detaching one Overlay Unit, I target a monster you control and destroy it! Begone, Vengeful Revenant!" The ghostly zombie shrieked, before succumbing to Étranger's beam. "Furthermore, you receive damage equal to its attack points!"

Yugure - LP: 8000 》5800

"You do remember Vengeful Revenant returns instantly if it's sent to the Graveyard, reducing your monsters' attack and defense by 300 for every "Blood Hunter" card in the Graveyard, right?" Yugure deadpanned, but Kurosaki wasn't fazed by it (Étranger Falcon: ATK: 2000 》1700/DEF: 2000 》1700|Revolution Falcon: ATK: 2000 》1700/DEF: 3000》2700|Force Strix: ATK: 1100 》800/DEF: 3000》2700).

"Revolution Falcon's effect! Since one of its Overlay Units, that is, its only one, is a "Raid Raptors" Xyz Monster, I can once per turn, target a monster you control, destroy it, and deal damage equal to half its attack! Once again, vanish from the field, Vengeful Revenant!"

"I don't know your plan, and I don't think I will like what it is…" Yugure muttered, while Serena looked on in confusion as Kurosaki's monsters were weakened further and Vengeful Revenant resurrected.

Yugure - LP: 5800 》4700

Étranger Falcon: ATK: 1700 》1400/DEF: 1700 》1400|Revolution Falcon: ATK: 1700 》1400/DEF: 2700 》2400|Force Strix: ATK: 800 》500/DEF: 2700 》2400

"And finally, I activate the effect of Raid Raptors - Seeker Lanius in my hand, sending it to the Graveyard to make it so a "Raid Raptors" Xyz Monster I control can attack directly! I target Étranger Falcon!"

"I was right." Yugure deadpanned.

"Battle! Étranger attacks you directly!" Yugure brought up his arms to block the beam, and was sent back skidding quite a few meters, after which the beam stopped, and Yugure struggled to stand up, his legs trembling from the strength of the attack, and having to block it himself.

"Damn, these things are no joke…" He remarked, falling to his knees.

Yugure - LP: 4700 》3300

"Yugure! Use your Traps, damn it!" Serena scolded him, to which he sent a small grin in response, irritating her with his nonchalant and carefree attitude.

"Revolution Falcon, attack Vengeful Revenant!" Kurosaki declared, his monster flying high up in the sky.

"But it has higher attack than Revolution Falcon." Serena remarked in confusion, Kurosaki eyeing her in speculation before answering.

"Whenever Revolution Falcon battles with a Special Summoned monster, their attack and defense becomes 0! Revolutional Air Raid!" The Winged Beast carpet-bombed Yugure's field, destroying Vengeful Revenant and dealing yet another blow on his Life Points.

Yugure - LP: 3300 》1900

Yugure lowered his arm from its position protecting his face, and eyed Kurosaki with a new-found respect. "Okay, this is the first time someone who took the first turn damaged me so much, to the brink of an OTK. You've earned my most sincere respect, Kurosaki Shun."

Kurosaki scoffed. "And why should I care about respect from Academia members, after what they did to my homeland? After their genocide of the defenseless people and children of Heartland!?"

"You shouldn't." Yugure agreed, as internally he had a shit-eating grin. Kurosaki did a double take at his words in confusion, as Vengeful Revenant returned, weakening his Winged Beasts for the last time (Étranger Falcon: ATK/DEF: 1400 》1100|Revolution Falcon: ATK: 1400 》1100/DEF: 2400 》2100|Force Strix: ATK: 500 》200/DEF: 2400 》2100).

Shaking his head, Kurosaki continued. "Now I-"

"Hold up." Yugure interrupted, wobbling to his feet as one of his set cards sprang up. "Trap Card, Blood Hunter's Sadistic Pleasure. By healing all damage I took during the Battle Phase, you receive half that amount as damage, and I draw a card for every monster that attacked. Since your Rank 5 and 6 monsters battled, I draw two."

Yugure - LP: 1900 》8000

Kurosaki - LP: 8000 》4950

"So that's why… You wanted him to deal damage, didn't you!?" Serena exclaimed, looking at Yugure.

He smirked. "Damn straight."

"Why you… I Normal Summon Vanishing Lanius, and use its effect to Special Summon Napalm Dragonius (LV: 4/ATK: 1000/ _DEF: 1000_ )! And since it was Summoned, Napalm Dragonius deals 600 damage to you!" Kurosaki shouted, the two monsters appearing on the field, as he drew two cards from Sparrow's Gathering.

Yugure - LP: 8000 》7400

"And I now use them to build the Overlay Network!" Kurosaki built up for a fourth Xyz Summon, as he chanted.

 _"Blade with crimson light! Set flame your thirsting wings to light my soul! Xyz Summon! Take flight, Rank 4! Raid Raptors - Blade Burner Falcon (RNK: 4/_ ATK: 1000 _/DEF: 1000/OU: 2)!"_

The monster appeared, and Kurosaki continued. "Since you have 3000 or more Life Points than me, Blade Burner gains 3000 attack points (Blade Burner: ATK: 1000 》4000)! Next, I activate the Magic Raid Raptors - Tactical Retreat! By shuffling two or more "Raid Raptors" monsters from my hand to my deck, I add two "Raid Raptors" Magic or Traps from my deck to my hand! I shuffle Tribute, Retrofit, Singing, Fuzzy, and Mimicry to add a second copy of Readiness and Raid Raptors - Pride Screech! I set two cards and end my turn." With that, he ended his turn with six cards on his hand, four monsters on the field and five cards in the backrow. A solid formation, which made Yugure smirk.

"Now that it's the End Phase, your monsters' attack and defense return to normal." He concluded, eyeing the monsters curiously as their stats raised (Étranger Falcon: ATK: 1100 》2000/DEF: 1100 》2000/Revolution Falcon: ATK: 1100 》2000/DEF: 2100 》3000/Force Strix: ATK: 200 》1100/DEF: 2100 》3000).

"My turn, I draw." He drew, raising his hand to six, and he smiled as he noticed the card he drew. "I summon Blood Hunter Grievous Shrieker (LV: 2/ _ATK: 600_ /DEF: 1100). Then, its effect activates. Since it was summoned, all monsters you control lose 300 attack and defense for every "Blood Hunter" card I control. Since there are two, namely Revenant and Shrieker, your monsters lose 600."

Kurosaki growled as his monsters were once again weakened.

Étranger Falcon: ATK: 2000 》1400/DEF: 2000 》1400

Revolution Falcon: ATK: 2000 》1400/DEF: 3000 》2400

Force Strix: ATK: 1600 》1000/DEF: 3500 》2900

Blade Burner Falcon: ATK: 3000 》2400/DEF: 1000 》400

"Now, I activate Revenant's effect, sending it to the Graveyard once more. And thanks to its effect, I Special Summon it." The monster vanished and returned once again, reducing the stats of Kurosaki's monsters even further, with there being two "Blood Hunter" cards in the Graveyard.

Étranger Falcon: ATK: 1400 》800/DEF: 1400 》800

Revolution Falcon: ATK: 1400 》800/DEF: 2400 》1800

Force Strix: ATK: 1000 》400/DEF: 2900 》2300

Blade Burner Falcon: ATK: 2400 》1800/DEF: 400 》0

"Next, it's the Magic Blood Hunter's Mad Feast, that allows me to Special Summon a "Blood Hunter" monster from my deck for every monster you control with lower attack or defense than the "Blood Hunter" monster I control with the highest attack and defense." He explained, sighing as he noticed he didn't have enough space. "Since all of your monsters have attack lower than my Revenant's 2200 points, I can Special Summon four monsters."

"But you only have three zones open." Serena pointed out, making Yugure shoot her a dry look.

"Thank you for informing me, Captain Obvious." He said sarcastically, causing Serena to tilt her head in confusion. She muttered the words in question, not knowing what to make of them. "That's why I'll unfortunately only be able to summon three monsters. Come, Blood Hunter Despised Necromancer (LV: 2/ATK: 100/ _DEF: 900_ ), Blood Hunter Deceased Warrior (LV: 4/ _ATK: 1900_ /DEF: 500), and Blood Hunter Hungering Spirit (Dark/Fiend/Effect/Level 10/ATK 0/ _DEF 0_ )."

Hungering Spirit was a beast-like opaque spectre, having a mostly humanoid body shape, but with its head being that of a tiger, its skin that of a dragon, and skeletal limbs and tail.

"Now, battle." He declared. "Vengeful Revenant attacks Blade Burner and Deceased Warrior attacks Étranger Falcon."

"I activate both copies of Readiness in my field and Graveyard!" Kurosaki rebuked. "With the first, I prevent all of my "Raid Raptors" monsters being destroyed by battle, and by banishing the second, since I have a "Raid Raptors" monster in my Graveyard, I negate all damage I take this turn!"

"All damage?" Yugure blinked. "That means effect damage is out of the running as well… alright. Despised Necromancer's effect. During the Battle Phase, I can perform a Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, Ritual or Link Summon using "Blood Hunter" monsters I control. I will perform an Xyz Summon."

"What!?" Serena and Kurosaki exclaimed, not expecting that. "Moreover, what the hell is a Link Summon?"

"Furthermore, Despised Necromancer lets me target a monster I control, and all "Blood Hunter" monsters on my field have their Levels become that monster's, since I chose an Xyz Summon. I target Hungering Spirit, therefore, all my monsters become Level 10."

Despised Necromancer: Level: 2 》10

Deceased Warrior: Level: 4 》10

Vengeful Revenant: Level: 5 》10

Grievous Shrieker: Level: 2 》10

"And now, with my five Level 10 monsters, I build the Overlay Network." The yellow galaxy appeared, and the monsters went through it, as Yugure chanted.

 _"Eternal reaper from the other side, emerge to collect the red ichor of doomed souls. Xyz Summon. Rank 10, Blood Hunter Vicious Shinigami (Dark/Fiend/Xyz/Effect/Rank 10/_ ATK ? _/DEF ?/OU: 5)."_

Vicious Shinigami was a grey-skinned demon wearing an oversized black kimono, with dirty white hair covering its head and face, two blood red glowing eyes visible through the bangs. It wielded a black katana and a bloodstained black scythe.

"Unknown attack and defense?" Serena wondered.

Meanwhile, Kurosaki was fuming. "You dare steal our summoning method!?" He spat at Yugure, hatred smouldering on his eyes.

However, he was ignored, as Yugure smirked at Serena, before turning back to the duel. "Vicious Shinigami gains 1000 attack and defense for every Overlay Unit it has. With five, it gains 5000 points (Vicious Shinigami: ATK: ? 》5000/DEF: ? 》5000). Furthermore, I use Shinigami's effect to attach Blood Hunter Bloodstained Maria to it as an Overlay Unit from my hand (Vicious Shinigami: ATK: 5000 》6000/DEF: 5000 》6000)."

"6000 attack points… That's a powerful monster." Serena remarked.

Yugure smiled a little at her words. Despite his outward expression, he had great pride on his monsters and was quite relieved that neither Serena nor Kurosaki had commented on their appearance. "Now, Vicious Shinigami attacks Blade Burner Falcon. And thanks to its own effect, Blade Burner's own effect is negated and it is attached to Shinigami as an Overlay Unit after damage calculation."

"What?" Kurosaki widened his eyes, not expecting something like that, as Vicious Shinigami's ATK and DEF rose to 7000.

"Also, Hungering Spirit's secondary effect activates when its used as a tribute for an Extra Deck Summon plus Ritual. Therefore, Vicious Shinigami attacks again, negating and attaching Revolution Falcon (Vicious Shinigami: ATK: 7000 》8000/DEF: 7000 》8000)." The second Falcon was attached to Yugure's monster, raising its stats further.

"I enter my Main Phase 2 and activate Vicious Shinigami's effect, detaching Bloodstained Maria to reduce your monsters' stats by 300 more (Étranger Falcon: ATK: 800 》500/DEF: 800 》500|Force Strix: ATK: 400 》100/DEF: 2300 》2000)." Yugure continued, confusing Serena and Kurosaki.

"But what's the point?" Serena asked. "The Battle Phase is already over and their stats will return to normal at the End Phase."

"Didn't you pay attention when I specified the monster I detached?" Yugure retorted. "I banish Bloodstained Maria from my Graveyard and target Étranger Falcon. Now, you receive damage equal to the difference between its original and current attack or defense, whichever is higher. But since it's the same, it doesn't matter, really."

Kurosaki - LP: 4950 》3450

"With that, I set a card and end." The set card appeared briefly, leaving Yugure with two cards in his hand. "As such, your monsters have their stats returned to normal (Étranger Falcon: ATK/DEF: 500 》2000|Force Strix: ATK: 100 》600/DEF: 2000 》2500)."

"My turn! Draw!" Kurosaki drew, before looking at his hand. "I activate the Quick-Play Rank-Up-Magic Revolution Force, using Étranger Falcon to rank it up to a "Raid Raptors" Xyz Monster one Rank higher!"

"Another Rank 6, heh?" Yugure grinned nonchalantly, confident in his ability to counter Kurosaki.

"Rank-Up Xyz Change! Take flight, Rank 6! Raid Raptors - Revolution Falcon - Airraid (RNK: 6/ _ATK: 2000_ /DEF: 3000/OU: 1)!" The retrain of Revolution Falcon took to the field, making Yugure blink in surprise.

"I… wasn't expecting that." He conceded, shrugging.

"Then you won't be expecting this!" Kurosaki exclaimed. "Airraid's effect! When this card is Xyz Summoned, I target a monster you control, destroy it, and deal damage to you equal to the monster's attack!"

"...Yeah, I weren't." Yugure deadpanned, before shrugging again. "Oh well, what can you do?"

"Oi! Can't you set cards do anything!?" Serena shouted, frowning.

"Nope." He replied, before grabbing a Trap Card in his hand. "They're meant to counter battle damage and destruction, not the effect version of them. I really should've set this card…"

Those were the last words he spoke before Airraid's bombs detonated upon reaching Vicious Shinigami, depleting Yugure's Life Points in a flash. _Well, damn._ He mused. _Not how I pictured this duel would end. Guess I've been winning one too many duels lately, and got overconfident._

Yugure - LP: 7400 》0

Kurosaki Wins!

"...In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have attached Bloodstained Marie." Yugure mused as he stayed sprawled on the ground, nonchalant even as Kurosaki stomped over to him and lifted him by his collar, Serena hovering near them with uncertainty, not having expected Yugure's loss.

"Now, make good on that promise, scum!" Kurosaki spat, making Yugure sigh and point to his left.

"There. I've noticed her watching our duel ever since your second turn." Kurosaki blinked, before he dropped Yugure as he was tackled by a ballistic Xyz missile.

Serena blinked, before turning to where Yugure had pointed, and saw two of the girls she had witnessed talking to Yugure back in Academia, accompanied by a boy with a clothing style similar to Kurosaki's and the girl who tackled the latter. She heeded Yugure's gesture to lower her hood, and stayed where she was as the sole girl that did not have the same face as her approached her downed companion.

"What's the verdict?" She asked, nodding at Kurosaki, who was hugging Ruri fiercely, the other boy hovering near the two.

"...He's strong." Yugure said, after a few seconds thinking. "A great asset for when we fight against Academia."

Hikari nodded in acceptance, gesturing at Rin to come closer. "For now, we need more allies here in Standard. Just what we have here won't be enough." Yugure's words rang true. Just the seven of them won't be enough to oppose Academia should they invade Standard in search of Serena, Ruri, and Rin, and as such, they needed people who would be willing to fight.

But, there was one thing that was bugging Serena, and she just couldn't help but voice it, shooting Yugure a look. "Just how long are you going to stay laying down on the ground?"

"...It's comfy."

* * *

 _Okay, I'm sorry for reposting Dusk Revolution yet again, but it's because I wasn't happy with how the previous version turned up. The Blood Dragons, while being an archetype I took pride in, it just didn't really work like I pictured, and don't even start with the naming... Ugh. Plus, Yugure and Hikari's personalities just weren't something I was comfortable with, and I felt everything was just... Forced._

 _Alright, OC Card time._

* * *

Yugure's Cards:

 **Blood Hunter Deceased Warrior** (Dark/Fiend/Effect/Level 4/ATK 1900/DEF 500)

Effect: You can target a monster your opponent controls; Lower its ATK and DEF by 300 for every "Blood Hunter" monster you control until the End Phase. If your opponent declares a direct attack while this card is on the Graveyard; Special Summon it, but it is banished next time it leaves the field. You can only use each effect of "Blood Hunter Deceased Warrior" once per turn.

 **Blood Hunter Grievous Shrieker** (Dark/Fiend/Effect/Level 2/ATK 600/DEF 1100)

Effect: When this card is Normal or Special Summoned; Target a monster your opponent controls, and lower its ATK and DEF by 300 for every "Blood Hunter" monster you control until the End Phase. When this card is attacked by your opponent's monster; You can reduce the Battle Damage by 300 for each "Blood Hunter" card on the field. You can only use each effect of "Blood Hunter Grievous Shrieker" once per turn.

 **Blood Hunter Despised Necromancer** (Dark/Fiend/Tuner/Effect/Level 2/ATK 100/DEF 900)

Effect: (Quick Effect): During either player's Battle Phase, you can perform a Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, Ritual, or Link Summon using "Blood Hunter" monsters on the field, including this card. Once per turn, you can target a "Blood Hunter" Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, Ritual, or Link Monster on the Graveyard, while this card is on the Graveyard; You can banish this card and Special Summon the targeted monster, but it's banished at the End Phase. You can only use one effect of "Blood Hunter Despised Necromancer" per turn. When this card is used for a Synchro, Fusion, Ritual, Xyz or Link Summon, you can activate one of the following effects:

● Synchro: Target a Synchro Monster in your Extra Deck and one or more "Blood Hunter" monsters you control; Subtract the targeted monsters' Levels from the Synchro Monster's, and change this card's Level to the result.

● Fusion: This card can be used as a substitute for any 1 Fusion Material whose name is specifically listed on the Fusion Monster Card, but the other Fusion Material(s) must be correct.

● Ritual: This card can be treated as the entire tribute for a Dark Ritual Monster.

● Xyz: Target a "Blood Hunter" monster you control other than this card; All other monsters, including this card, become the same Level as the targeted monster.

● Link: This card can be treated as two tributes for a Link Summon.

 **Blood Hunter Vengeful Revenant** (Dark/Fiend/Effect/Level 5/ATK 2200/DEF 1600)

Effect: If this card is on the Graveyard; Special Summon it. When this card is Special Summoned, all monsters your opponent controls lose 300 ATK and DEF for every "Blood Hunter" card banished and in the Graveyard until the End Phase. Once per turn, you can send this card to the Graveyard.

 **Blood Hunter Hungering Spirit** (Dark/Fiend/Effect/Level 10/ATK 0/DEF 0)

Effect: You can target a monster your opponent controls; Special Summon this card (From your hand), and equip the targeted monster to it. This card gains the ATK and DEF of the monsters equipped to this card. If this card destroys a monster by battle; Equip the destroyed monster to it. If this card were to be destroyed by battle or card effect; Destroy one of the equipped monsters instead. If this card is used as a tribute for a Fusion, Synchro, Ritual, Xyz, or Link Summon, the Summoned monster gains the following effect:

● This card can attack two monsters your opponent controls during the Battle Phase.

 **Blood Hunter Bloodstained Marie** (Dark/Fiend/Effect/Level 3/ATK 900/DEF 1100)

Effect: You can target a monster your opponent controls; Destroy it, and deal damage equal to the destroyed monster's Level times 300, and your opponent's monsters' ATK and DEF are lowered by the same amount. You can banish this card from your Graveyard; Target a monster your opponent controls and deal damage equal to the difference between its current and original ATK or DEF, whichever is higher. You can only use each effect of "Blood Hunter Bloodstained Marie" once per turn.

 **Blood Hunter Crazed Werewolf** (Dark/Fiend/Synchro/Effect/Level 8/ATK 2700/DEF 1900)

Effect: 1 "Blood Hunter" Tuner + 1 or more Fiend Non-Tuners

When this card is Synchro Summoned; All monsters your opponent controls lose 300 ATK and DEF for every "Blood Hunter" card on your Graveyard until the End Phase. You can target a monster your opponent controls whose ATK and DEF are lower than their original value; Deal damage equal to the added difference between each stat's original and current value, and this card gains attack and defense equal to the damage dealt. You can only use each effect of "Blood Hunter Crazed Werewolf" once per turn.

 **Blood Hunter Vicious Shinigami** (Dark/Fiend/Xyz/Effect/Rank 10/ATK ?/DEF ?)

Effect: 2 + Level 10 "Blood Hunter" monsters

This card gains 1000 ATK and DEF for every Xyz Material it has. You can target a "Blood Hunter" monster in your hand; Attach it to this card as Xyz Material. You can detach any number of Xyz Materials from this card; Your opponent's monsters lose 300 ATK and DEF for each one. You can only use these effects of "Blood Hunter Vicious Shinigami" once per turn. When this card battles your opponent's monster; The opposing monster's effects are negated, and it is attached to this card as Xyz Material after damage calculation.

 **Blood Hunter's Mad Feast** (Magic/Normal)

Effect: If your opponent controls one or more monster(s) whose ATK or DEF is lower than a "Blood Hunter" monster you control; Special Summon a "Blood Hunter" monster from your deck for each of said monster(s). You can only use this effect of "Blood Hunter's Mad Feast" once per turn.

 **Blood Hunter's Second Chance** (Magic/Normal)

Effect: You can target a Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, Ritual or Link Monster you control; Return it to the Extra Deck (Hand if it is a Ritual Monster) and Special Summon the monsters used as its materials, but you cannot activate Magic or Trap cards until the End Phase.

 **Blood Hunter's Sudden Assault** (Magic/Normal)

Effect: If your opponent controls more monsters than you do; Special Summon a "Blood Hunter" monser from your deck, and lower the ATK and DEF of all monsters your opponent controls by 300 for every Level the summoned monster has. You can only use one "Blood Hunter's Sudden Assault" per turn.

 **Blood Hunter's Sadistic Pleasure** (Trap/Normal)

Effect: At the end of the Battle Phase; Gain LP equal to the amount you lost during the Battle Phase, and inflict damage to your opponent equal to half the amount gained. If your LP is lower than your opponent's; Banish this card from the GY and gain LP equal to the difference between yours LP and your opponent's.

Kurosaki's Cards:

 **Raid Raptors - Seeker Lanius** (Dark/Winged Beast/Effect/Level 2/ATK 200/DEF 600)

Effect: You can target a "Raid Raptors" Xyz Monster you control; Send this card from your hand to the GY. The targeted monster can attack directly. This card can attack directly, and when it attacks your opponent directly, it gains 1000 ATK for every "Raid Raptors" Xyz Monster in your field and GY.

 **Sparrow's Gathering** (Magic/Permanent)

Effect: When a Winged Beast monster is Special Summoned; Draw 1 card. You can shuffle any number of cards from your hand to the Deck; Add Winged Beast monsters from your deck to your hand up to the amount of cards you shuffled. You can only use this effect once per turn.

 **Rank-Up Climbing** (Magic/Permanent)

Effect: You can add a "Rank-Up-Magic" Magic Card from your Deck to your hand. You can banish an Xyz Monster from your GY; Add a "Rank-Up-Magic" card from your GY to your hand. You can only use one effect of "Rank-Up Climbing" per turn, and only once that turn.

 **Otherworld Xyz** (Magic/Normal)

Effect: Target any number of monsters in your GY and/or Banished Zone with the same Level; Special Summon a Xyz Monster from your Extra Deck with a Rank identical to the Level of the targeted monsters, ignoring its Summoning Requirements (This Summon is treated as an Xyz Summon). Attach the targeted monsters to the summoned monster.

 **Raid Raptors - Tactical Retreat** (Magic/Normal)

Effect: Shuffle 2 or more "Raid Raptors" monsters from your hand to your Deck; Add two "Raid Raptors" Magic or Trap Cards from your Deck to your hand. You can only use this effect of "Raid Raptors - Tactical Retreat" once per turn.

 **Raid Raptors - Pride Screech** (Trap/Counter)

Effect: If a "Raid Raptors" monster you control would be destroyed by a card effect; Negate the effect and destroy that card.


	2. Call From Darkness

"So, Isaac, how far ahead is the research on Pendulum Cards?" A male voice asked, making Isaac smirk.

"Way ahead of you. They're already finished. Here are yours, Ren." Isaac replied, presenting the cards.

Ren blinked, before gingerly taking the cards. "I know you were up there in the IQ above Akaba Leo, but damn if his isn't fast as all hell."

"Oh please, it was child's play." Isaac snorted. "I even made some for the people Miu, Yugure, and Luna's teams gathered, based off on what I could gather from their Duel Disks."

"...Isaac."

"Yes?"

"Has anyone ever told you that you're downright terrifying?"

"...This wouldn't be the first time."

* * *

 **Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V: Dusk Revolution**

 **Arc 1 - Declaration of War**

 **Chapter 2 - Call From Darkness**

* * *

"Why did you call me here, Akaba Reiji?" A boy with layered caramel hair with yellow bangs and grayish blue eyes. He was currently wearing the uniform of the middle school he attended.

"Sawatari. Due to your familiarity with the summoning method, I've decided to ask you to test one of our own Pendulum decks we created." Akaba Reiji replied, making Sawatari drop his jaw in surprise.

"Wait, what? You managed to develop Pendulum Cards?" Sawatari exclaimed in shock, before remembering exactly who he was talking to. "Though, I shouldn't really be surprised, after all, it's you we're talking about, Akaba Reiji."

Reiji briefly smirked, before noticing something off about Sawatari. "Is something wrong? You seem rather… Subdued, in comparison to your previous behaviour."

Sawatari grimaced. While he didn't want to talk about it, he thought better of it, since it was Akaba Reiji. He could spot a loophole in a contract from miles away. "It's… My father. I've heard that he ordered some members of the top team to chase after Sakaki, despite the evidence that I discovered."

Reiji narrowed his eyes at Sawatari, but decided not to inquire about the evidence for the moment, as it seemed the youth had more to speak. "And… I found out that he doesn't really care about me from mom. So forgive me if I'm still reeling from that discovery."

"I see…" Reiji nodded in response, now understanding why Sawatari seemed… Respectful, for the lack of a proper word. Though, it has been a while since last time he contacted Sawatari's mother, who was a Pro Duelist. Maybe she would return to watch her son compete in the upcoming Maiami Championship. "At the moment, this is irrelevant. What I want to know is your answer to helping us test the new Pendulum Cards. Yes or no?"

"...Yes. I will help you." Sawatari replied after some moments to collect himself, a new fire appearing on his eyes. "After all, I need to get stronger to earn Mom's approval and acknowledgment."

Reiji smirked at his response, before gesturing for Nakajima to bring forth the deck they made. "Here is the deck. Keep in mind that this will be the test duel, so we don't know if there's anything wrong with it. There may be some… Complications when using it, but rest assured that it will only help us further enhance the cards."

Sawatari nodded, before leafing through the deck, noticing some generic cards to compensate for the fact it had only some cards developed, not enough to make a full deck. "I'll let you get acquainted with the cards for a while. But don't be late." Reiji warned, causing Sawatari to nod again.

After he left, Reiji was about to call someone when he noticed that he was getting a call himself on his Duel Disk. Picking it up, he smirked at seeing the caller ID. "Speak of the devil, and it shall appear." He remarked. "It's been a while, Mitsuki-san."

[Yes it has, Reiji. So, do you know how my son is doing? I know enough about my husband not to ask him about it.] A female voice replied, slightly distorted due to the nature of the communication method. On the Duel Disk's screen, was a beautiful woman with layered caramel hair with yellow bangs that spiked down to the middle of her back and greyish blue eyes. If someone were to base on appearance alone, they would guess her to be Sawatari Shingo's mother. And they would be right.

"We were talking to each other a few minutes ago, and I was pleasantly surprised." Reiji said, smiling slightly.

[How so?] Sawatari Mitsuki raised a delicate(not) eyebrow, shooting Reiji an inquiring look.

"It appears that he has been letting go of the arrogance instilled on him by his father, and returning to his old personality." Reiji replied, raising to his feet as he deemed fit to find someone to duel Sawatari personally.

Mitsuki smiled softly. [That's good. Now, can you please help me? I've been standing in the tower's reception for a while, as they wouldn't let me up to visit you.] She pouted, and Reiji amusedly listened to the shocked cries of the receptionist and the guards stationed where Mitsuki was.

He paused. This idea that came to his mind… It could work. Plus, Mitsuki was known to be one of the best pro duelists, having only lost to Sakaki Yusho himself. Unfortunately, she couldn't challenge Strong Ishijima for the throne, as she in a foreign championship. Not that she would not want to kick the guy in the ass, as she was actually Sakaki Yusho's sister, and was heavily upset with Strong Ishijima insulting him.

If anything, it would serve as an excellent motivator for Sawatari, to duel against the mother he wanted approval from. "...I'm coming."

* * *

Sawatari Shingo couldn't believe it. Not only was he asked to help with testing the new Pendulum Cards, he was dueling against his mother of all people! He grinned eagerly, as he stood across from his mother in a private arena reserved for card tests.

"Here I come, mom!" He said, his grin being infectious as his mother grinned as well.

"Come at me, Shingo." She replied. "Let's see just how much have you grown as a duelist."

[Duel!]

Sawatari - LP: 8000

Mitsuki - LP: 8000

"I'll go first!" Mitsuki declared. "First, I activate the Field Magic Justice World!" Their surroundings changed to an ancient city, the arena of the duel being a large empty area next to the city's entrance. Above the city, the sky was covered in gray clouds, darkening the area.

"Next up, I activate the Magic Reinforcement of the Light, milling the top three cards of my deck to add Lightlord Assassin Raiden from my deck to my hand! And since one of the cards send was Lightlord Beast Wolf, I Special Summon it (LV: 4/ _ATK: 2100_ /DEF: 300)!"

"And since three cards were sent to the Graveyard, Justice World gains three Shine Counters (Shine Counters: 0 》3), and all "Lightlord" monsters gain 100 attack points for each! With three, Wolf gains 300 (Wolf: ATK: 2100 》2400)!" She continued, as three beams of light broke through the cloud layer, brightening the area a little.

"I summon Lightlord Assassin Raiden (LV: 4/ _ATK: 1700_ _》_ _2000_ /DEF: 1000), and activate its effect, milling the top two cards of my deck and raising the counters by two (Shine Counters: 3 》5|Raiden: ATK: 2000 》2200|Wolf: ATK: 2400 》2600)!" Two more beams of light broke through, powering up Raiden and Wolf. "I set one card and end my turn. At this moment, Raiden's effect activates, milling two more cards from my deck, placing two more counters on Justice World (Shine Counters: 5 》7|Raiden: ATK: 2200 》2400|Wolf: ATK: 2600 》2800)!"

"And since one of the sent cards was Lightlord Archer Felis, it is Special Summoned from the Graveyard, just like Wolf was (LV: 4/ATK: 1100 》1800/ _DEF: 2000_ )!"

"As expected, Mitsuki-san brought out three monsters while powering them up to strong levels at the same time. This is the experience of a Pro." Reiji remarked, wondering what Sawatari would do to counter that.

"My turn! Draw!" Sawatari drew, before looking at his hand. "Since you're using Counters, I'll do the same! I activate the Permanent Magic Yokai Shrine of Trials!"

A shrine appeared behind Sawatari, multiple candles being on it. "Next, I summon Yosenju Kodama (LV: 1/ _ATK: 0_ /DEF: 0), placing a Yosen Counter on Yokai Shrine of Trials since a "Yosenju" monster was Normal or Special Summoned. Furthermore, I tribute Kodama to activate its own effect, placing three counters on my Permanent Magic (Yosen Counters: 0》1 》4)!"

Mitsuki hummed. "Interesting. I'll be waiting eagerly for what else you have in store."

"Oh, you'll be surprised!" Sawatari said, smirking. "But before that, I remove three Yosen Counters from my Shrine to add Yosenju Sarenshinchu from my deck to my hand (Yosen Counters: 4 》1)! I also banish Kodama from my Graveyard, allowing me to Normal Summon another "Yosenju" monster!"

"So, he has one of the Pendulum cards on his hand." Nakajima noted, but Reiji kept silent.

"I Normal Summon Yosenju Kamaitachi (LV: 4/ _ATK: 1600_ /DEF: 500), that allows me to Normal Summon another "Yosenju" monster! Come, Yosenju Sabu (LV: 4/ _ATK: 1700_ /DEF: 400!" He continued, the two monsters quickly appearing on the field, and his Permanent Magic gaining two Counters, two more candles being lit (Yosen Counters: 1 》3).

"Interesting. Two monsters almost at once? That is certainly impressive." Mitsuki praised Sawatari, who smiled happily. "Well then, I assume there's more to your monsters than just consecutive Normal Summons, so show me."

"As you wish! Since I control another "Yosenju" monster, I can activate both of my monsters' effects! With Kamaitachi, I return one card from the field to your hand, and with Sabu, I add a "Yosenju" Pendulum Monster from my deck to my hand!" Sawatari announced. "I add Yosenju Urenshinchu and return your Justice World!"

A powerful wind was emitted from Kamaitachi spinning its kusarigama at astounding speeds, creating a green tornado that covered the two duelists, and when it vanished, they saw that the city had vanished along with it. "With Justice World gone, your monsters lose their boost (Raiden: ATK: 2400 》1700|Wolf: ATK: 2800 》2100|Felis: ATK: 1800 》1100)!"

"That they do." Mitsuki agreed, a wry smile on her face. She wouldn't say it out loud, but she was happy her son wasn't being an arrogant asshole, and was genuinely having fun while dueling.

Sawatari narrowed his eyes as he looked at his hand. _I have both cards needed for the Pendulum Summon, but all I have in my hand is Oyamabiko, a monster that is better left in the hand, and a Trap. Better play safe for now._ "I set a card and end my turn! Now, Kamaitachi and Sabu's effects activate during the End Phase, returning them to my hand since they were Normal Summoned!"

The two monsters returned to being cards in a whirlwind, leaving Sawatari's field bare aside from his Magic and set card. Despite that, he kept smiling, confident on his set card and Oyamabiko.

"That's a risky gamble you're taking, Shingo." His mother warned him. "You better be sure it will pay off. My turn! I once again activate Justice World, and I will also use Raiden's effect to mill two cards!"

The city appeared again, but this time with two rays of light, symbolizing the two counters the card gained from Raiden's effect (Shine Counters: 0 》2). "And with this, my monsters have their attack raised by 200, plus Raiden gains 200 more since a "Lightlord" monster was sent by its effect (Raiden: ATK: 1700 》1900 》2100|Wolf: ATK: 2100 》2300|Felis: ATK: 1100 》1300)!"

"Furthermore, since the other card Raiden sent was Lightlord Rapier, it equips itself to Wolf, giving it 700 attack (Wolf: ATK: 2300 》3000)!" A rapier appeared on Wolf's hand, and the monster swung it a few times to get used to the weapon.

"Next up, I activate Solar Exchange, discarding Lightlord Monk Eileen to draw two cards and mill two cards." She continued, two more counters being added to her Field Magic (Shine Counters: 2 》4|Raiden: ATK: 2100 》2300|Wolf: ATK: 3000 》3200|Felis: ATK: 1300 》1500).

"I then tribute Felis for an Advance Summon! Come, Lightlord Dragon Gragonith (LV: 6/ _ATK: 2000 》2400_ /DEF: 1600)!" Felis vanished into motes of yellow light, before Gragonith appeared, roaring.

"Gragonith gains 300 attack and defense for each "Lightlord" monster with a different name in my Graveyard!" Mitsuki added, smirking. "With Eileen and Felis, plus Jain, Luminas, Lyla, Minerva and Shire, that amounts to a 2700 boost (Gragonith: ATK: 2400 》5100/DEF: 1600 》4300)!"

"Wait, what!?" Sawatari's jaw dropped at the outrageous amount of attack points. "5100 attack!? Oi, isn't that a bit overkill!?"

Reiji smirked. "There she goes. While still holding back, she's fearsome in her own right."

"Kuh!" Sawatari clicked his tongue. "Time to counter! I activate my Trap, Yosenju's Weaselblade Wind! Since I control no monsters, I reveal up to two "Yosenju" monsters on my hand, in this case Kamaitachi and Sabu, that you already knew were there, and return that same number of face-up cards you control to the hand! Vanish, Gragonith and Wolf!"

"Hoh? Not Justice World?" Mitsuki asked, amused.

"I'm not stupid. You'd just activate it again on you next turn." Sawatari snorted. "But since Wolf cannot be Normal Summoned and you need a tribute for Gragonith, they'll be sitting ducks in your hand, since Wolf's effect only activates if it was sent from the deck."

"You've grown, Shingo." She admitted. "Now battle! Raiden attacks you directly!"

"Not so fast!" Sawatari countered. "Since you are attacking me directly, I Special Summon Yosenju Oyamabiko from my hand (LV: 6/ATK: ? 》1700/ _DEF: ? 》1700_ ), and its attack and defense become equal to the attacking monster's attack! Unfortunately, I have to discard Sabu, but that is a small price to pay in order to avoid damage."

"Very well, then. Another Yosen Counter for you (Yosen Counter: 3 》4), and Raiden destroys your Oyamabiko!" The large monster was destroyed by the smaller one, but since it was in defense position, Sawatari evaded damage.

"Furthermore, since Oyamabiko was destroyed by battle, I add a "Yosenju" monster from my deck to my hand. I add Yosenju Kamanitachi." Sawatari finished, as his mother smiled.

"I end my turn here, with Raiden milling two cards. And I think I should tell you that both cards were Rynian and Raiko, both "Lightlord" monsters." Two more Counters were added, as Raiden's attack grew (Shine Counters: 4 》6|Raiden: ATK: 2300 》2500).

"My turn! Draw!" Sawatari drew, before smiling at the five cards in his hand. "I use three Yosen Counters (Yosen Counters: 4 》1) to add Yosenju Kamamitachi from my deck to my hand. Now, with a string of Normal Summons coming from their effects! Come, Kamaitachi, Kamanitachi (LV: 4/ _ATK: 1800_ /DEF: 200), and Kamamitachi (LV: 4/ _ATK: 1500_ /DEF: 800)!"

"Three monsters at once, without Pendulum Summon. Even if he has the Pendulum Cards in his hand, he's more likely waiting for the right moment." Reiji commented, narrowing his eyes.

"My Shrine gains three more Counters (Yosen Counters: 1 》4), and I activate Kamaitachi's effect, sending Raiden back to your hand!"

 _And since I have no monsters on my field, I can't use my set card Lightlord Barrier._ Mitsuki thought, before smiling. _Well played, son._

"Battle! My three Kamas attack you directly!"

Mitsuki - LP: 8000 》3100

"If the Life Points were the old value from before it was changed last year, she probably would have lost right then and there." Reiji stated, raising an eyebrow. "Sawatari has definitely improved."

"Furthermore, Kamamitachi allows me to add from my deck to my hand, since a "Yosenju" monster dealt Battle Damage. I add Yosenju Storm Call, and activate it, drawing a card for every "Yosenju" monster I control. Also, if I have two "Yosenju" Pendulum Monsters in my hand when I activated this card, I can add another to my hand. I add Mayosenju Daibakaze." Sawatari drew, and smiled at the cards.

 _Great._ He thought. _Now I have three Pendulum Monsters in my hand, plus two Traps I can set now. ...Wait a second. If I set only these cards, I will have seven cards in my hand, and will be forced to discard one due to hand size constraints._

He looked at the other card he drew together with the Traps, and clicked his tongue. "I activate the Permanent Magic Yosen Churning Winds!" The card appeared on his field. "I will also set two cards and end my turn, with the three monsters I control returning to my hand."

"Pendulum Monsters?" Mitsuki said, confused. "What are those?"

Sawatari blinked, before smacking himself in the head for forgetting to tell his mother about them. Unknown to him, Reiji shot him a look, as he had wanted to disclose the news to Mitsuki herself. "They're a new monster type that appeared out of nowhere. In essence, they're like Fusion, Synchro, and Xyz. Along with a Level, they also have a Pendulum Scale, that comes into play when you place them in the Pendulum Zones on the edges of the blade of your Duel Disk."

Mitsuki listened intently to her son's explanation, marveling at the new cards. "When you have two monsters in the Pendulum Zones, you can Special Summon monsters from your hand or Extra Deck that have Levels between the Scales. Furthermore, when Pendulum Monsters are in the Pendulum Zones, they're treated as Permanent Magics instead of Monster cards."

"Extra Deck? How so?" Mitsuki asked, eager for more information.

"Apparently, Pendulum Monsters go to the Extra Deck instead of the Graveyard when destroyed or tributed." Sawatari finished his explanation, before smiling at his mother. "Now then, it's your turn."

"Yes, it is." Mitsuki agreed, drawing a card. "By discarding Wolf from my hand, I activate the Magic Cost Down, reducing the Levels of all monsters in my hand by 2."

"And now she can Normal Summon Gragonith without worrying about a second Normal Summon, eh?" Sawatari grimaced, before smiling. "Bring it on!"

She grinned in return. "Next up, I activate Treasure Cards from Heaven, allowing us to draw until we have six cards in our hands. But, since you already have six cards, I'm the only one who draws."

Reiji smirked. "And of course, she takes advantage of her opponent to further her own plays."

She looked at her hand. _I still have Gragonith and Raiden, plus four other cards I haven't revealed yet_. "I activate Angel's Charity, drawing three cards and discarding two! I discard Raiden and Jenis. Now, I activate Dual Summon, allowing me to Normal Summon twice."

 _Five cards._ "I Normal Summon Gragonith (LV: 6 》4/ATK: 2000 》2400 》6000/DEF: 1600 》2000 》5600) and Lightlord Druid Aurkus (LV: 3 》1/ _ATK: 1200 》1600_ /DEF: 1800)! Furthermore, Aurkus prevents my "Lightlord" monsters from being targeted by both players' card effects, no matter where they are, be it Graveyard, Banish zone, Field, hand, you name it!"

 _Three cards._

"So, in essence, they cannot be targeted anywhere. Dammit." Sawatari cursed, irritated that his combo of returning cards to the hand was broken.

"Battle! Aurkus attacks you directly!"

"Yosen Churning Winds' effect! Once per turn, by sending a "Yosenju" Pendulum Monster from my deck to the Extra Deck face-up, I can negate the attack of a monster you control! I send Mayosenju Hitotsumenomuraji!" Sawatari abruptly spoke, a green translucent barrier blocking Aurkus' attack.

"Then Gragonith attacks you directly!"

"Trap Card, Rainbow Life! By discarding a second copy of Yosenju Kodama, I negate the damage and turn it into Life Points instead until the end of this turn!" His first set card flipped up.

Sawatari - LP: 8000 》14000

"I see." Mitsuki smiled. "I end my turn, and my monsters' Levels return to normal (Gragonith: LV: 4 》6|Aurkus: LV: 1 》3). Plus, Gragonith mills three cards at the End Phase."

She checked the cards, and was pleased to see Lightlord Warrior Garos and Twilightlord Fighter Ryko, which boosted her Dragon's attack and defense (Shine Counters: 4 》7|Gragonith: ATK: 6000 》7100/DEF: 5600 》6500|Aurkus: ATK: 1600 》1800).

Sawatari smiled nervously at the monster, as a bead of sweat rolled down his temple. "That's going to be a tough one to crack… My turn!" He drew, before smiling. "Now, it's time for you to witness it! With the Scale 3 Yosenju Sarenshinchu (LV: 4/SC: 3/ATK: 0/DEF: 2100) and the Scale 5 Yosenju Unrenshinchu (LV: 4/SC: 5/ATK: 0/DEF: 2100), I set the Pendulum Scales!"

The two monsters resembling halves of a Torii gate appeared on the field inside pillars of blue light on both sides of Sawatari's field. "Furthermore, I activate Urenshinchu's effect to raise its Scale to 11 (Urenshinchu: SC: 5 》11)!"

"Now, I can Pendulum Summon monsters from Levels 4 to 10 from my hand and Extra Deck!" He declared. "Pendulum Summon! Come, from my hand and Extra Deck, the Level 10 monsters, Mayosenju Daibakaze (LV: 10/SC: 7/ATK: 3000/DEF: 300) and Mayosenju Hitotsumenomuraji (LV: 10/SC: 3/ATK: 2000/DEF: 3000)!"

Two more candles were lit (Yosen Counters: 4 》6)

"Daibakaze effect! Since it was Special Summoned, I return up to two cards you control to the hand! I target Justice World and your set card!" Sawatari stated, gesturing at the city. "But before it happens, I activate my set card, the Permanent Trap Dizzying Winds of Yosen Village!"

"A Permanent Trap, is it?" Mitsuki mused.

"To activate my Trap, I need a Level 6 or higher "Yosenju" monster on my field. But as long as its effect is active, non-"Yosenju" cards, instead of returning to the hand, are shuffled back to the deck!" Sawatari said, grinning widely.

Mitsuki raised both of her eyebrows in slight surprise, as her set card and the city were engulfed in a green whirlwind, before both vanished, returning the two to the arena. "Hitotsumenomuraji's secondary effect activates! While normally I'd be able to return a card you control to the hand, since Daibakaze already did the job, it won't be happening thanks to Aurkus. But, since a card was either returned to the hand and shuffled to the deck, my "Yosenju" monsters gain 500 attack!"

With the Field Magic gone and the effect of Sawatari's Pendulum Monsters, all monsters currently on the field had their stats changed, with the Mayosenjus being raised (Daibakaze: ATK: 3000 》3500|Hitotsumenomuraji: ATK: 2000 》2500), and the Lightlords reduced (Gragonith: ATK: 7100 》6500/DEF: 6500 》5900|Aurkus: ATK: 1800 》1200).

"To wrap it up, I activate the Magic Yosenju's Relentless Attack! What it does, you'll find out. Battle! Hitotsumenomuraji attacks Aurkus!" Sawatari exclaimed.

Mitsuki - LP: 3100 》1800

"Now, Yosenju's Relentless Attack does its magic! When a "Yosenju" monster I control destroys a monster by battle, I can target a card on my opponent's field and return it to the hand! But with Yosen Village in effect, Gragonith is shuffled back to the deck!"

The monster vanished, leaving Mitsuki's field bare, as she smiled at her son. "Very well, son. You have dueled in an excellent way, showing to me your growth. Come! You have earned this victory!"

Upon hearing his mother call him "son", Sawatari froze, before a giddy smile split his face in half. "You got it, mom! Go, Mayosenju Daibakaze! Spiral Whirlwind!"

Mitsuki - LP: 1800 》0

Sawatari Wins!

After the dust settled, Sawatari just stared dumbly at his mother, before finally managing to speak. "I… Won?"

She smiled, before walking over to hug her son. "Yes, you did. Congratulations."

"I won!" Sawatari laughed, hugging his mother tightly. "I won…"

"Indeed." Reiji spoke, walking in the arena from the observation room. "Congratulations, Sawatari. Thanks to your help, we confirmed that we managed to create fully-functional Pendulum Cards. As a reward, you can keep the Yosenju deck."

Sawatari was about to reply, when his mother decided enough was enough. "That's good to hear, but now we must get going!" She grabbed Sawatari by the collar and began walking away, dragging him with her, as he paled and feebly attempted to free himself. "I haven't seen Yoko in years, and I want you to meet your cousin!"

Reiji and Nakajima merely watched as the Sawatari mother-son duo left, before Nakajima addressed Reiji. "Sir, shall I greenlight the development department's creation of more Pendulum Cards?"

"Yes. Based on what we saw here, they will most certainly be successful." Reiji replied, fixing his glasses. "Though I _am_ interested in what is said evidence that Sawatari found of Yuya's innocence…"

* * *

"...Question. Why are we following you and Serena?" Rin asked, giving Yugure and the aforementioned girl a half-lidded look.

After they got the explanations and introductions out of the way, the girls plus Yuto, the boy Yugure and Serena had seen accompanying the girls, and Shun had set to following the duo, who had yet to explain. Apparently, shortly after Hikari had explained everything to Ruri and Rin, they had met Yuto by complete accident, leading to the two Xyz natives' tearful reunion.

After that, they began searching for Yugure and Serena around the town, as Hikari's Duel Disk was connected to his as the other half of the pair, allowing her to know exactly in which Dimension he was. The range was huge, but it was more difficult to locate the other half the farther they were from each other. If they were on different dimensions, the Disk would give which Dimension the other was. The same Dimension, the country. Same country, the city. Same city, an approximate area. Inside the area, the exact location.

"Yeah, I didn't tell you." Yugure blinked, before replying without breaking stride.

"...Will you tell us?"

"Nope!"

Seeing Rin grow a tick mark, Hikari was quick to run damage control, nervously waving her down. "H-Hey, Rin, calm down. Just ask Serena instead."

"We're going to the house of someone who found us after Yugure's emergency teleport activated." She said bluntly, ignoring Yugure's pout. "We promised to his mother to return after we found Hikari, Rin, and Ruri."

Hikari winced at that. She experienced it once. Her sickness lasted for an entire week. Right now, she couldn't help but marvel at Serena's iron stomach, since the only way Yugure doesn't get sick is by not eating a lot at once, instead distributing the amount of food he eats during the day.

To Yuto and Shun, it was… Unnerving to see girls with the same face as Ruri acting so different from her. Said girl sweatdropped upon seeing their weirded out faces. Well, not like she could tease them without being an hypocrite, since she and Rin were in the very same situation a while ago. It just took a few hours for them to accept it.

Still… Ruri frowned. "Is it alright? I mean, those from Standard aren't supposed to know about the other Dimensions, right?"

"Yoko-san does. Does the name Sakaki Yusho ring a bell with you three?" Yugure replied, looking over his shoulder to shoot them an inquiring look with his golden-yellow eye.

"Sakaki Yusho?" Rin repeated the name, frowning, before shrugging. "Can't say I ever heard of him."

Yuto and Shun also replied in the negative, but Ruri had widened her eyes. "Sakaki Yusho? That was the name of one of the Clover Branch's teachers at Heartland Duel School!"

"I see…" Yugure muttered, before raising his voice. "Well, the guy who found me and Serena unconscious is his son. Suffice to say, I think he will be happy to know his father's still alive."

"And you wonder why people call you the evil twin…" Hikari grumbled in exasperation.

Upon hearing that, and analyzing Yugure's behaviour ever since he saw him, Shun couldn't help but agree. "I concur. With his behaviour, I genuinely believed he was from Academia from the moment I saw him."

Hearing Shun say that, Yugure grinned mischievously at Hikari, sticking his tongue out. "I told you these acting lessons would be useful~"

 _WHAM!_

"Stuff it." Hikari said in irritation, her fist smoking after having left a large welt on Yugure's head. Said victim was cradling his head and crying anime tears, but did not dare to act dramatically, in fear of retaliation.

"Shun?" Yuto asked, speaking up for the first time since they started to follow Yugure and Serena. Looking at Serena and Rin's amused expression, Ruri's concerned one, and Hikari's irritated one, he came to a scary conclusion.

"...Yes?" It seemed his best friend had reached the same conclusion, from how he was eyeing the girls aside from Ruri.

"...Should we fear the girls besides Ruri?"

"...I think so."

"We can hear you, you know." Serena deadpanned, causing the two males to jump in surprise and eye her warily.

 _Wham!_

And of course, Hikari smacked Yugure again upon seeing him chuckling at Yuto and Shun's fright. "Oh, we're here." He said, rubbing the welt with teary eyes as he pointed at the house. Though, in front of the house were two people Yuto remembered, causing him to freeze. Unfortunately, one of them noticed him.

"YOU!" Sawatari Shingo bellowed, pointing at Yuto with rage in his eyes.

"...What exactly did you do to anger him, Yuto?"

Let it be said that Yuto began to fear Ruri that day. And at the moment, she was his greatest concern, to the point of stepping behind Shun to hide from her, as she smiled sweetly at him. Of course, Yugure was currently having an ROFLMAO moment. For the uncultured, the acronym meant Rolling On the Floor Laughing My Ass Off. And that was exactly what he was doing…. Until Hikari put a stop to it.

* * *

Luna paused, blinking. She was a young woman around Yugure and Hikari's age, with light pink hair dropping in spikes around her head, with two bangs in front of her forehead being a color closer to red. The rest of her hair was an extremely dark blue, almost black, and fell down to the middle of her back. She had green eyes, and wore a light greyish blue sleeveless shirt, short shorts and skirt, with a brown rope acting as a belt in her waist. She also wore stockings colored similar to her hair, and similarly colored heeled boots.

"Luna?" Miu questioned, the whole entourage noticing her stop and following suit. She was a little older than Luna, with neck-length sky blue hair in downwards spikes and light green eyes, wearing a dark gold dress shirt under a dark blue hooded vest, dark gold dress pants and black shoes. A white Duel Disk was attached to her left arm. "Something wrong?"

"...I feel like I just missed something amusing." Luna replied, a smirk on her face at the thought of Yugure doing something stupid only to be punished by Hikari.

Miu sweatdropped, before gesturing for everyone to keep following her, Sect, and Miho.

* * *

"...You felt it, didn't you?" A voice rang out, causing the figure standing on the edge of the building to grunt in response. "...Judai. Should we do something?"

"Right now? Nothing." Judai replied. He was a youth around fifteen, sixteen years old, with brown hair and eyes, wearing a red jacket over a black shirt, dark pants, and red shoes. He turned around to shoot a serious look at his twin, Haou. True to his words, Haou was near-identical to him, with the same hair color and style, but what truly differed them were his choice of attire and his honey gold eyes. Haou wore a black jacket with golden trims instead of a red one, but otherwise, it was the same as Judai's. "I didn't feel it happen on our dimension, and we don't have any way of crossing the border. What did Yubel have to say about it?"

Haou grunted while looking away, making Judai grin, as that meant Yubel had said the same thing he had. While both were the reincarnation of the Supreme King, Haou had been the more attuned to the Gentle Darkness, and therefore, the most vocal whenever he felt something unusual involving both the Darkness and the Light. Thankfully, Judai and Yubel always managed to hold him from just going in to find out recklessly.

 _"Honestly, Haou, you need to learn self-control."_ Yubel said sternly, the Duel Monster Spirit appearing next to Haou, shooting him a look. _"I still can't wrap my head around the fact that Judai, of all people, is the responsible one here."_

And with that, Judai instantly deflated. Just because he was a carefree person on his previous life in the Original Dimension, didn't mean he would be the same, dammit! "Why, Yubel, why do you have to keep picking on me…"

As soon as Haou found Yubel, she was quick to take notice of her current condition, and slapped Judai's memories of his former life in his head, much to Haou's amusement and Judai's chagrin. It gave him a damned hell of a headache. After Judai recovered, Haou took notice that he seemed more mature than before, and asked Yubel, after listening to the whole tale, if he could have his memories back as well. Apparently, he couldn't. Yubel claimed it was because she had spent a long time with Judai instead of him, and as such, did not have his memories anymore.

Judai knew the truth. It was because he and Haou were essentially the same person, separated by whatever event separated the Original Dimension into six. As such, his and Haou's memories were one and the same.

His musings were cut by a scream, making the trio snap their heads towards the docks, were the scream came from. "Dammit, Sho and Rei were found by the Juvenile Officers!" He cursed, before racing towards Rei through the rooftops as she split up from So. "Haou, help Sho take care of these idiots!"

"Already on it!" Haou replied, rushing on the opposite direction of Judai.

Judai sighed as he kept following Rei and the trio of Officers chasing her. Academia's forces on the port town had become better, in order to catch the deserters who lived in it. But that was only in relation to spotting deserters. They still sucked at dueling, focusing on that boring Bullfortress or theirs.

An amused smile grew on his face as he listened to Rei insult the hell out of her chasers, deliberately making them prone to make mistakes, as she dashed through the narrow alleyways, occasionally checking on her Duel Disk for the map Asuka had most likely supplied her with.

Clicking his tongue, he jumped in just as Rei had gone into one of the narrower alleyways, blocking the Juvenile Officers' path. "Go, Rei! I'll take care of them!"

She turned around and blinked in surprise at seeing Judai, before smirking. "You got it, Ju!" Following that, she ran away, now able to follow the directions with no problem

"Yuki Judai." Juvenile Officer #1 sneered. "You've been a thorn on our side for a long time."

"But this is the end for you!" Officer #2 declared, activating his Duel Disk alongside the other two. "We'll card you and that girl right after!"

Judai smirked as he activated the red Duel Disk Misawa had developed on Yusho-sensei and his' instructions. "I'd like to see you try!" He taunted, a red blade appearing.

[Duel!]

Judai - LP: 8000

Juvenile Officer #1 - LP: 8000

Juvenile Officer #2 - LP: 8000

Juvenile Officer #3 - LP: 8000

"I'll go first!" Judai declared. "I activate Angel's Charity, drawing three cards and discarding two!" Looking at the drawn cards, he smirked upon seeing them, before discarding two of his Elemental HEROs. "I activate Foolish Burial, sending Elemental HERO Clayman from my deck to the Graveyard!"

 _Goodie. I have Clayman, Liquidman, and Solidman on the Grave._ Judai thought, looking at the remaining cards in his hand. Elemental HEROs Burst Lady and Featherman, Double Fusion, and Pot of Greed. He decided to play the latter, if only to see if he could get a couple more Elemental HEROs to the Grave. "I play Pot of Greed, drawing two!"

 _Nice._ "I activate Take Over Five, sending the top five cards from my deck to the Graveyard!" He checked the cards, happy to note Necrodarkman, Bubbleman, and Edgeman among them. _With this, once I summon Shining Flare Wingman, I'll have ten of those in the Grave._

As the other card he drew was Sparkman, he had everything set for his next turn, provided his opponents didn't try to cheat. Even if he had Necro Gardna and Super-Electromagnetic Turtle in the Graveyard.

"I end with this."

"No monsters nor traps in you hand?" Officer #1 laughed. "You've truly lucked out! My turn! I summon Armor Dog Cannonboxer (LV: 3/ _ATK: 1400_ /DEF: 800), and use its effect to Special Summon Armor Dog Bullcopter (LV: 2/ATK: 600/ _DEF: 1600_ ) from my hand! Furthermore, I'll add Fusion from my deck to my hand through Bullcopter's effect!"

The monsters appeared on the field, causing Judai's face to fall. "And here I thought you guys had finally heard about originality…" He grumbled, sighing.

"Next up, I activate Fusion, using Cannonboxer and Bullcopter to Fusion Summon Full Armor Dog Bullfortress (LV: 6/ _ATK: 2000_ /DEF: 1400)!" The Fusion Monster appeared, much to Judai's annoyance. He was honestly tired of seeing this monster multiple times per day, seven days of the week!

"And with Bullfortress' effect, I send "Fusion" cards from my hand to the Graveyard, and Bullfortress gains 1000 attack for each card sent! I send Fusion Recovery, Fusion Substitute, and Fusion Trench (Bullfortress: ATK: 2000 》5000)! I end my turn."

The other two Officers used the same combo, the only difference being that #2 sent a second copy of Fusion alongside Fusion Tag, Fusion Reserve and Re-Fusion (Bullfortress #2: ATK: 2000 》6000), while #3 sent Duel Fusion - Battle Fusion, Final Battle Fusion - Final Fusion, Instant Fusion and Fusion Sage (Bullfortress #3: ATK: 2000 》6000).

As such, Judai was currently facing three monsters with 5000 and 6000 attack points, the Juvenile Officers sneering smugly at him. "You should just give up." #3 taunted. "You're no match to three monsters with attack this high!"

"My turn!" Judai spoke, ignoring #3. "In my Standby Phase, I banish Take Over Five from my Graveyard to draw a card! Then, I activate Double Fusion! By paying 500 Life Points, I can perform a Fusion Summon twice!"

Judai - LP: 8000 》7500

"Wait, what?" #1 widened his eyes. "Such a Fusion card exists!?"

"First up, I fuse Elemental HERO Featherman and Elemental HERO Burst Lady on my hand!" The monsters began to swirl in a Fusion portal, as Judai chanted.

 _"Hero of the skies! Hero of the flames! Merge together and bring forth a fiery hero! Fusion Summon! Elemental HERO Flame Wingman (LV: 6/_ ATK: 2100 _/DEF:1200)!"_

"Moving on, I fuse Flame Wingman on my field with Elemental HERO Sparkman in my hand!"

 _"Fiery hero of the skies! Hero of lightning! Merge together and bring forth a hero of blazing light! Fusion Summon! Elemental HERO Shining Flare Wingman (LV: 8/_ ATK: 2500 _/DEF: 2100)!"_

As the second monster appeared on the field, the Juvenile Officers breathed a sigh of relief, seeing that it was just a 2500 attack monster. "Don't look so relieved yet, boys! For Shining Flare Wingman gains 300 attack points for every "Elemental HERO" in my Graveyard! With ten, this means a 3000 boost (Shining Flare Wingman: ATK: 2500 》5500)!"

The first Juvenile Officer looked at the monster nervously, while the others were slightly less worried. "Moving on, I activate the effect of Elemental HERO Honesty Neos in my hand, sending it to the Graveyard and boosting Shining Flare Wingman's attack by 2500 (Shining Flare Wingman: ATK: 5500 》8000)!"

"And, Shining Flare Wingman deals damage equal to the attack of a monster it destroys! With this, your Life Points will become a perfect zero! Isn't that amazing?" Judai winked, sticking out his tongue.

"Don't… Don't joke with us! Your monster can only attack once, and after your turn ends, one of us will defeat you!" #2 cried out, sweat rolling down his temple.

"Yeah, no." Judai deadpanned. "I activate the Magic Heroic Desperation, that allows me to target a "HERO" Fusion Monster I control, in this case Shining Flare Wingman. In exchange for being banished at the end of the Battle Phase, it can attack all monster my opponent controls once each."

"Then… That means…" #3 paled, understanding what was going to happen.

"Ayup." Judai smirked lazily. "Shining Flare Wingman, destroy all three annoying Bullfortresses. Shining Shoot."

Juvenile Officer #1, #2, #3 - LP: 8000 》0

Judai Wins!

"Man…" Judai yawned as he stretched, walking away from the downed Juvenile Officers. "What a letdown. Just when I thought the Juvenile Officers had a change in strategy… Oh, well, better go check on Rei. Haou can take care of himself."

* * *

Haou scoffed while looking at his opponents' field. Three Bullfortresses with 6000 attack, the generic move every deserter already knew how to counter.

Juvenile Officer #1 - LP: 8000

Field: Full Armor Dog Bullfortress (ATK 6000/DEF 1400)

Hand: 0

Juvenile Officer #2 - LP: 8000

Field: Full Armor Dog Bullfortress (ATK 6000/DEF 1400)

Hand: 0

Juvenile Officer #3 - LP: 8000

Field: Full Armor Dog Bullfortress (ATK 6000/DEF 1400)

Hand: 0

Haou - LP: 8000

Field: Bare

Hand: 5

"That again? I'm honestly tired of seeing the same monster many times per day." Haou sneered. "Time to get rid of these eyesores! My turn, draw! I activate the Field Magic Supreme King's Castle!" Their surroundings changed to a castle in the side of a river of lava, connected to the other side by a narrow stone bridge. Haou had the castle to his back, facing the three Juvenile Officers on the bridge.

"Supreme King's Castle allows me to Fusion Summon "Evil HERO" monsters with cards other than "Dark Fusion". Furthermore, since I control no monsters, I Special Summon Evil HERO Hell Brat from my hand (LV: 3/ _ATK: 300_ /DEF: 600) in attack position." He continued, his monster appearing on the field. "Then, I tribute Hell Brat to Advance Summon Evil HERO Malicious Edge (LV: 7/ _ATK: 2600_ /DEF: 1800."

"Wait a second!" #1 interrupted. " That is a Level 7 monster! You need two tributes to Advance Summon it!"

"As long as you control a monster, Malicious Edge only needs one tribute." Haou deadpanned, before grabbing another card in his hand. "Then, by discarding a card, I activate the Quick-Play Magic Super Fusion."

A Fusion Portal appeared behind Haou, sporting a whirlwind of blue and dark blue streams, a light in the center sending lightning bolts to the ground, striking everywhere. "Super Fusion!? That card exists!?" #3 exclaimed in fright. "I thought it was a myth!"

"You're wrong." Haou said, closing his eyes.. "There are three copies of this card in existence. Besides mine, I know of the location of one other. But that's enough." He opened his eyes. "With Super Fusion's effect, I will fuse your three Bullfortresses with my malicious Edge! And thanks to my Field Magic, I can Fusion Summon an "Evil HERO" monster with this card, even if it isn't Dark Fusion!"

The monsters were struck by lightning, before being sucked in the Fusion Portal, swirling in it, as Haou chanted.

 _"Nefarious devil of the dark world! Machines of animalistic appearance! Merge together, and bring forth the most loyal servant of the Supreme King! Fusion Summon! Evil HERO Nefarious Lucifer (Dark/Fiend/Fusion/Effect/Level 10/_ ATK: ? _/DEF: ?)!"_

Nefarious Lucifer was a devil-like humanoid with dark hair and large, black wings spreading from its back, wearing black armor with golden accents and wielding a pitch-black longsword.

"What… Is that monster?" #1 asked, trembling in fright from the pressure the monster emitted. "Such pressure…"

"Nefarious Lucifer's attack and defense is equal to half the combined attack of its Fusion Materials. Since all three of you monsters had 6000 attack and Malicious Edge had 2800, the total value is 10400 (Nefarious Lucifer: ATK: ? 》10400/DEF: ? 》10400)." Haou explained, as his monster's wings spread even further, the souls of the three Bullfortresses and Malicious Edge being absorbed by the pitch-black wings.

"And, Nefarious Lucifer can attack as many times as the number of its Fusion materials minus one. Since four monsters were used to Fusion Summon it, it can attack three times. Go! Hell Daemon's Wrath - Morningstar's Pride!"

Juvenile Officer #1, #2, #3 - LP: 8000 》0

Haou Wins!

"Another duel, another win." Haou smirked victoriously as he went in the direction Sho had gone, to tail the kid and prevent more Juvenile Officers from following him. Yubel appeared, the Duel Monster Spirit, shooting Haou a dry look.

 _"Remember to not be arrogant, Haou."_ She deadpanned. _"Look at what happened last time you did that. You went in assured of your victory… And Johan kicked your ass."_

Haou blushed in embarrassment. "That never happened!"

 _"_ You _can't just-"_

"Never. Happened." Haou said, putting emphasis on the 'Never'.

Yubel sighed. Honestly, Haou was stubborn as all hell.

 _"...Fine, whatever."_

* * *

 _Hey! SoulMatter here! And now, with another revised chapter of Dusk Revolution! Now, this chapter introduced an OC that came to my head in a flash of inspiration when I was trying to decide who Sawatari was going to duel in order for LDS to test the "Yosenju" cards. Now, I know Sawatari's duel against Yuya in the Maiami Championship was sort-of the test duel, but I decided to give Akaba Reiji and the Lancers a boost in the form of Pendulum cards being finished earlier than they were in canon. Plus, I was trying to think about how to write Sawatari's character development, and she came as the perfect way (In my head) to do it! Don't worry, Sawatari is still the brash, reckless idiot we know and find amusing, he'll just be less arrogant._

 _Now, onto the highlight of this chapter: Yosenjus vs Lightlords/Lightsworns. The former was super fun to write, as an archetype I feel like was wasted in the anime. Returning to the hand/shuffling to the deck? This is a tactic that can make and break duels, as it is needed more resources to retrieve the monster than if if was sent to the Graveyard (Or Extra Deck in the case of Pendulum Monsters). Case in point, Sawatari vs. Yuya, Maiami Championship. Sawatari deserved the win, he managed to outplay Yuya, shut down Pendulum Summon, and even play around his own cards' weaknesses, while also making a Pendulum Summon of his own! Yet, he got beaten by Yuya's Deus Ex Machina Namelessness situational Trap that was only useful for this duel thanks to the "Yosenjus" return-to-the-hand effects, and never appeared again. Ahem. Sorry, but I just really liked the "Yosenju" cards._

 _Also, we have a surprise in the form of four Legacy Characters from the Fusion Dimension! The dub names will be in brackets for people who are more familiar with it. Yuki Judai (Jaden Yuki), Yuki Haou, formerly known as the Supreme King, Marufuji Sho (Syrus Truesdale), and Saotome Rei (Blair Fannigan)! The latter two WILL duel, count on it!_

 _If anyone is wondering, this chapter and the previous one happen between episodes 21 and 22, after Shun and Yuto vanished, but before the start of 22._

 _Time for the OC Cards._

* * *

Sawatari's Cards:

 **Yosenju Storm Call** (Magic/Normal)

Effect: If you control a "Yosenju" monster that was Normal Summoned this turn; Draw a card for every "Yosenju" monster you control. If you had 2 "Yosenju" Pendulum Monsters" in your hand when this card was activated; Add a "Yosenju" Pendulum Monster with a different name from your deck to your hand in addition to the drawn cards. You can only activate one "Yosenju Storm Call" per turn.

 **Yosen Churning Winds** (Magic/Permanent)

Effect: Once during your opponent's turn (Quick Effect): If a monster you opponent controls declares an attack; You can send a "Yosenju" Pendulum Monster from your Deck to your Extra Deck. If control no monsters and you're about to receive an instance of damage that would turn your LP to 0; You can destroy this card, negate the damage, and gain Life Points equal to half the damage you negated.

 **Yosenju's Relentless Attack** (Magic/Normal)

Effect: During the Battle Phase of the turn this card was activated; If a "Yosenju"monster you control destroyed a monster by battle, you can target a card on your opponent's field and return it to the hand.

Judai's Cards:

 **Heroic Desperation** (Magic/Normal)

Effect: You can target a "HERO" Fusion Monster you control; Other monsters you control cannot attack and the targeted monster is banished when the Battle Phase ends, but it can attack all monsters your opponent controls once each. You can banish this card from the Graveyard, except during the turn it was sent there; Double the ATK of a "HERO" Fusion Monster you control, but it is banished at the end of the Battle Phase. You can only activate each effect of "Heroic Desperation" once per turn.

Haou's Cards:

 **Evil HERO Nefarious Lucifer** (Dark/Fiend/Fusion/Effect/Level 10/ATK ?/DEF ?)

Effect: 1 "Evil HERO" monster + 1+ Effect Monsters

Must be Special Summoned with "Dark Fusion" and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways. This card's original ATK and DEF s equal to half the combined ATK of the monsters used for its Fusion Summoning. This card can attack a number of times equal to the number of Fusion Materials used for this card's Fusion Summon -1. When this card would be affected by your opponent's card effect; You can tribute an "Evil HERO" monster you control other than this card: negate the effect and destroy it. When this card would be destroyed by battle, you can make it lose half of its ATK and DEF instead.


	3. Splitting the Focus

_Two Years Earlier_

Yugure was in deep thought. Everyone he interacted with was so… Simplistic. And currently, he was trying to understand it. Why were they simplistic? Why did he find them to be simplistic? What could be classified as simplistic? So many questions, so little answers… If any.

He blinked, remembering an event a little while ago, that caused him to widen his eyes in realization. Hikari and the others had expressed disgust at something he later learned to be called the 'Path of Ashura'. Kill the few to save many.

A grin split up his face, as he finally understood why he knew himself to be different from everyone. Black and White? Ha! He was more of a Blue and Orange himself.

...Now to think of why the hell he considered Black and White to be simplistic, as it in itself held quite a number of confusions for him.

* * *

 **Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V: Dusk Revolution**

 **Arc 1 - Declaration of War**

 **Chapter 3 - Splitting the Focus**

* * *

 _Present Time_

The atmosphere around the Sakaki Residence was, for most people, extremely awkward. Sawatari was, for the most part, glaring bloody murder at Yuto, who was doing his best to not look at a smiling Ruri. Shun had already fallen to her, and was slumped over, crying anime tears over being severely scolded by Ruri for the first time ever since he beat up that boy that asked her out a few years back.

Yuya simply kept looking at everyone, struggling to keep himself together in the presence of so many people who shared the same face, while Yuzu kept alternating between looking from him to Yuto in wariness, looking at Ruri, Serena, and Rin in disbelief, and at her blinking bracelet in confusion. The last two were talking to each other quietly, Rin being an obviously completely unrelated person, while Serena was curious about the Synchro Dimension and was actually a little socially awkward, and therefore, did not notice the atmosphere.

As for the last four people…

Yoko and Mitsuki were chatting in the kitchen, their conversation background noise to the others, and some were confused as to why they didn't notice, or ignored, the atmosphere of the room. On the other hand… Yugure had been knocked out cold by Hikari, because, in her own words, 'He'd make a mess and probably piss of everyone here'. He was currently laying down in one couch, his sister diligently keeping watch and knocking him out again should he regain consciousness.

Hikari sighed as she looked around. She had talked to Yuto along with Rin and Ruri after they had landed right next to him after the dimensional travel (A part of her slumped in relief at not having to suffer through the emergency teleport. Who knows how many victims it would keep claiming), and had taken him away for some private words. There, she had found out he had attacked a few LDS duelists, in order to gain information on Academia, but stopped after deciding those from Standard were unaware of other dimensions. Unfortunately, Shun kept at it.

She shook her head, before turning to go back to keeping watch over _the spot Yugure had previously been_. A dark look crossed her eyes, as she knew that with Yugure, she had two ways of being, both being true to herself. When he was serious, act like a perky girl with boundless energy. When he was in his trolling mood, keep him in line with extreme violence. Besides, it wasn't like he wouldn't recover, what with his healing factor. She had it too, but it was weaker than Yugure, due to his power being stronger than hers.

"This, is extremely, utterly, and interestingly awkward, serious and funny at the same time. Respectively, of course." His voice rang out, causing everyone to whip their heads towards the source, but before they could properly react-

 _CRASH!_

Everyone flinched in reflex at Hikari's… ministrations. Yugure was once again on the ground, sporting a rather large bleeding welt on his head, as Hikari returned the couch she had picked up to its rightful place, a few wisps of darkness escaping her hands and forearms. "Ow…" Yugure moaned, being very conscious. Well, his skull bones and head muscles and skin _were_ several times harder than the others in his body, making him the literal definition of 'hard-headed'. It took several blows to the head for him to pass out. Hikari knew every way to make it quick. "Dammit, Hikari, did you have to use a couch..?"

"Did she…?" Shun blinked, not depressed at the lecture anymore, looking at Hikari with extreme wariness.

"Yes, she did grab the couch, lift it like it was incredibly light, and slam it down on Yugure's head." Serena bluntly stated, not at all affected by what just happened. She had seen worse in the Fusion Dimension.

"How is he still alive…?" Yuya wondered, looking at the crouching Yugure, who was cradling his head, with morbid curiosity.

"He is extremely hard-headed." Hikari replied, deadpanning as she clap-wiped her hands. "And by that, I mean in the literal sense. Trust me, I know exactly how much it takes to knock him out with a blow to the head. Nothing short of a skyscraper falling on his skull would do the job."

"That's… Completely unrealistic." Yuzu said, giving her a half-lidded gaze.

"But it's the truth, believe it or not." Hikari responded, sitting down on the couch she used as a weapon of attempted fratricide. Now, the atmosphere was mostly of bafflement and confusion at the siblings' behavior, a far cry from the awkwardness from earlier.

"See? I told you that there is a method to my madness!" Yugure protested, glaring at Hikari as he slowly rose, still cradling his head. "The atmosphere is not awkward anymore!"

"Stuff your madness into a bunker, lock it, and throw it in the deepest pit!" Hikari snapped back. "You act like an idiot, I punish you, and all's well with the world!"

As the twins began to bicker, Yuto looked at a baffled Sawatari, clearing his throat. "Look, for all that's worth, I'm sorry about what happened." He apologized, bowing his head under Ruri's narrowed eyes. "I mistook Yuzu there for Ruri, and I believed that, since you were from LDS, you worked for mine and Shun's enemy."

Sawatari gave him the stink eye, but relented, since it was a valid reason, and, he _did_ apologize. "We'll have a rematch later!" He declared, a fierce look in his eyes as he looked at Yuto, who nodded in acceptance. "And I won't lose!"

Yuto smiled briefly. "I look forward to it."

Yuya blinked, finally remembering something. "Oh, yeah, Sawatari." The aforementioned person turned to him, raising an eyebrow. "Why did you come here to my house?"

Sawatari blinked, before chuckling nervously as he rubbed the back of his head. "Apparently, Mom's maiden name was Sakaki. So, I guess that means we're cousins."

Yuya and Yuzu blinked. Twice.

"WHAT!?"

Everyone flinched at the volume.

* * *

"...So, this is what we know." Yugure said, now serious as he had explained everything about the Dimensions, the Nexus, and Akaba Leo's plans to everyone inside the house. "Me and Hikari have a vague idea about why he wants Ruri, Rin, and Serena, and presumably the other girls that share the same face, but it's irrelevant at the moment."

"I see." Kurosaki said, frowning and in deep thought. "But why? Why the Xyz Dimension?"

"...I don't know." Yugure admitted. "When I stole the files, I saw no mention of a reason for the Xyz Dimension to be chosen. It could have been Synchro, Standard, Ritual, or even Link to be attacked. But he chose Xyz. Why? Unfortunately, we will probably have no clue unless we ask him ourselves."

"You and Hikari had the dimensional travel technology. Can't you infiltrate Academia again?" Rin proposed, while Serena kept silent, in deep thought.

Hikari shook her head. "Nope! If it worked for us before, the guardians of the towers will have definitely notified the Professor, so they'll be prepared for us!"

"Actually, he knows Serena is with us as well." Yugure interjected, scowling. "That's why we were forced to use the emergency teleport. We were attacked as we were about to leave."

"Wait a second. If you were attacked and forced to use said emergency teleport…" Yuya began. "Does that mean we may have not found you and her?"

Yugure nodded. "Possibly. Uncle Isaac back in the Nexus has yet to work out all the kinks in the dimensional travel system in our Duel Disks, so the exact location we arrive is never the same. At best, we have a general area, such as a city, or even a specific neighborhood."

"I see…" Yuya frowned.

"Dinner's ready!" Sakaki Yoko's voice rang from the kitchen, making everyone pause.

Sawatari blinked, and he looked out of the nearby window. "Huh. It's night already? Guess time passes quickly when you're engrossed in a conversation."

"...All in favor of pausing our discussion while we eat?"

No one disagreed, not with all the growling stomachs around.

* * *

 _Synchro Dimension_

"Argh!" Someone shouted to the heavens, their voice reaching across the night sky over a large city of pillars, with highways connecting them, and run-down buildings on the base of the pillars, stretching all around them. The culprit was someone currently driving down one of the highways on a black and red D-Wheel, chased by two members of Neo Domino City's Security. "Why, just why!? First Rin is kidnapped! Then, Yugo vanishes while searching for her! And now, we're being chased by frigging _Security_ outta nowhere!"

They were a male teen around fourteen years old with emerald green eyes, his head covered by a black and red helmet that hid his hair, and wore a black and red jumpsuit under a black jacket, and red boots. "Who knows? Now stop complaining and drive the fuck away!"

He was smacked in the head by his companion, a female teen around the same age as him, with sky blue eyes, her head covered by a dark blue helmet that hid her hair, and wore a dark blue jumpsuit with white accents and white boots.

"Ow!" He yelped, before rubbing his head and complaining. "Oi, Kira! Stop hitting me, will ya!"

"No." Kira deadpanned. "Now, go faster, Kuro, god dammit!"

"You will not escape the hammer of law!" One of the two Duel Chasers snapped. "Field Magic, on!"

[Speed World Neo, activate. Duel Mode, on. Auto-Pilot, stand-by.] Their D-Wheels announced, as Kuro's own D-Wheel activated, a blue blade sprouting to life.

"Fuck!" Kira cursed, glaring at the Duel Chasers. "Damned Tops, aren't you already happy with what you have!? Do you need to hoard everything to yourselves!?"

"Shut the fuck up, Kira!" Kuro snapped, but he was glaring at the Duel Chasers as well. "You're shouting in my goddamn ear!"

"Sorry." Kira winced, before grabbing her own Duel Disk and strapping it to her right arm. "Anyways, I'm going in too! I don't want to just stand by while you kick their asses!"

"Heh." Kuro smirked. "Let's go, old friend."

Kira grinned, said grin promising terrible pain on the Duel Chasers. "Yeah, let's."

[Duel!]

Kuro - LP: 8000

Kira - LP: 8000

DC 167 - LP: 8000

DC 329 - LP: 8000

"I'll go first!" Kuro declared. "I summon Bixi, Dracomet of Water (LV: 2/ _ATK: 0_ /DEF: 2000)!" The monster appeared on the field.

"Next up, I activate the Permanent Magic, Leyline of the Dracomet! But I can't activate any of its effects for now." The card appeared on the field, and Kuro grabbed another card in his hand. "I activate Foolish Burial, sending the Tuner Monster Liwen, Dracomet of Light, to the Graveyard!"

"Furthermore, I set two cards and end my turn." Two face-down cards appeared briefly, before vanishing, as the turn passed to DC 167.

"My turn! Draw!" DC 167 drew. "I summon Jutte Lord (LV: 4/ _ATK: 1600_ /DEF: 1200)! And since Jutte Lord was Summoned, I can Special Summon a "Jutte" monster from my hand! Come, Jutte Knight (LV: 2/ATK: 700/ _DEF: 900_ )!"

"There it comes…" Kuro muttered, glad that damned Melissa Claire wasn't there to record this duel. Kira clicked her tongue.

"I tune the Level 2 Jutte Knight with the Level 4 Jutte Lord! Synchro Summon! Goyo Predator (LV: 6/ _ATK: 2400_ /DEF: 1200)!" The humanoid monster appeared on the field, and Kuro smirked.

"There it is. I activate my Trap, Curse of Dracomet!" The card flipped open, revealing a Normal Trap. "When a monster with a different Attribute than a "Dracomet" monster I control is summoned, that monster's effects are negated! Furthermore, I destroy a "Dracomet" monster I control and draw a card for every monster with the same Attribute as yours in your Graveyard!"

"What!?" DC 167 widened his eyes in surprise, as Kira smirked and DC 329 frowned.

"I destroy Bixi, and since both Jutte Lord and Jutte Knight are Earth monsters, just like Goyo Predator, I draw two cards!" Kuro drew, smirking at the cards, before adding them to his hand and continuing. "And since Bixi was destroyed by a card effect, I Special Summon a "Dracomet" monster from my deck! Come, Suanni, Dracomet of Fire (LV: 4/ _ATK: 1900_ /DEF: 0)!"

"Good, good. Keep it up, Kuro!" Kira said, grinning maliciously.

"Oh, I will." Kuro replied, smirking. "Since a "Dracomet" monster was destroyed while Liwen is on the Graveyard, I Special Summon it (LV: 1/ATK: 0/ _DEF: 0_ )!"

"Anything else?" DC 167 asked, gritting his teeth in frustration.

"Nope, go ahead, fucker!" Kuro replied with a shit-eating grin.

"You won't escape the force of law!" DC 167 shouted. "Battle! Goyo Predator attacks Suani!"

"Oh yeah, I _did_ have something else! It's called "Suanni's effect"!" Kuro abruptly shouted. "During my opponent's Main or Battle Phase, I can perform a Synchro Summon using "Dracomet" monsters I control! I tune the Level 1 Liwen with the Level 4 Suanni!"

The monsters turned into a single green technological ring and four stars respectively, with the latter going through the ring in a straight line before a beam of lightning shot through the ring, as Kuro chanted.

 _"Ancient dragon of transcendent light, descend, here and now! Synchro Summon! Ascend to the Skies, Level 5! Wangtianhou, Dracomet of Origin (LV: 5/ATK: 0/_ DEF: 2800 _)!"_

The monster appeared, and Kuro grinned. "A Synchro Monster that was summoned using Suanni as material gains 500 attack and defense (Wangtianhou: ATK: 0 》500/DEF: 2800 》3300)!"

DC 167 glared at Kuro, that grinned widely in return. "Leyline of the Dracomet's effect activates! Since I have two different attributes in my Graveyard, my "Dracomet" monsters gain 500 attack (Wangtianhou: ATK: 500 》1000)! Liwen is banished since it left the field after it was Special Summoned through its own effect, so unfortunately, it can't be three."

"Furthermore, Wangtianhou lets me add a "Dracomet" card from my deck to my hand, since it was Special Summoned. I add Creation of Dracomet. _Now_ I have nothing else."

"I cancel Goyo Predator's attack." DC 167 spat. "I set two cards and end my turn."

"Finally!" Kira scoffed. "You take too long, Kuro. My turn!" She drew, 'accidentally' smacking Kuro's head with the motion.

"Ow!"

"I activate Triangular Formation of the Ice Barrier!" The Normal Magic appeared on the field. "By revealing three "Ice Barrier" monsters with different names in my hand, I destroy a card my opponent controls! I reveal Strategist, Fengshui Master, and Grenade to destroy the set card on the left!"

An ice spire shot from the Magic, revealing the Trap to be Dimensional Prison, before destroying it. "Furthermore, I Special Summon an "Ice Barrier" monster from my hand! Come, Grenade, Valiant Commander of the Ice Barrier (LV: 8/ _ATK: 2800_ /DEF: 1000)!"

"I Normal Summon Strategist of the Ice Barrier (LV: 4/ _ATK: 1600_ /DEF: 1600)! And since Grenade allows me to Normal Summon an "Ice Barrier" monster in addition to my Normal Summon this turn, I summon Fengshui Master of the Ice Barrier (LV: 3/ _ATK: 800_ /DEF: 1200)!" Two more monsters appeared on the field.

Kuro whistled. "Damn, Kira, you're on fire!"

Kira smirked in return. "More like 'on ice', but you know what I mean. I activate Strategist's effect! By discarding an "Ice Barrier" monster, such as Destructive Arts Master of the Ice Barrier, I draw a card!" She discarded and drew, before smirking at the card.

"I activate the Magic Medallion of the Ice Barrier, adding an "Ice Barrier" monster from my deck to my hand! I add Ganthara, Valiant Commander of the Ice Barrier!" She showed the card, before grabbing the other one in her hand. "I'll also activate another Magic, called Reinforcement of the Ice Barrier! With it, I draw a card for every "Ice Barrier" monster I control! With three, I draw three cards!"

She quickly restored her hand, smiling at the cards she drew, before hardening her gaze on the Duel Chasers. "I tune the Level 3 Fengshui Master with the Level 4 Strategist!" The Synchro animation played out, as she chanted.

 _"Freezing dragon of boiling anger! Rise over the barrier and harden your resolve! Synchro Summon! Storm through, Level 7! Gungnir, Dragon of the Ice Barrier (LV: 7/_ ATK: 2500 _/DEF: 1700)!"_

The icy dragon with red hues appeared, roaring and sending a chilling wind that made the Duel Chasers shiver. Kuro smirked. He really liked that monster. "Gungnir's effect! By discarding up to two cards from my hand, I can target that same number of cards you control and destroy them! I discard two to destroy Goyo Predator and your facedown!"

The dragon shot a blizzard that covered both cards, and when it vanished, they vanished with it. But DC 167 wasn't going to just let that happen. "I banish Goyo Protection from the Graveyard in order to Special Summon a "Goyo" monster from my Graveyard! I Special Summon Goyo Predator!"

"Not happening!" Kuro rebuked, flipping open his second set card. "Permanent Trap, Glare of Dracomet! During either player's turn, I can negate an effect up to the number of different Attributes in my Graveyard! I use my first time to negate Goyo Protection's effect!"

DC 167 grit his teeth, as Kira continued. "Moving on, since one of the cards I discarded was Watchman of the Ice Barrier, its effect activates! Since it was sent to the Graveyard by an "Ice Barrier" Synchro Monster's effect, I can draw a card for every Synchro Monster on the field! With Gungnir and Wangtianhou, I draw two!"

She looked at the cards she drew, before smirking. "I activate the Permanent Magic Ascension of the Ice Barrier! Once per turn, I can select an "Ice Barrier" monster I control, and Special Summon an "Ice Barrier" monster one Level lower from my hand! I select the Level 8 Grenade to Special Summon the Level 7 Ganthara (LV: 7/ _ATK: 2700_ /DEF: 2000)!"

"Three high-level monsters in one turn, with one of them being a Synchro Monster…" DC 329 muttered, before smiling a little. "She's good."

"Battle! Gungnir attacks you directly! Boiling Blizzard!" She pointed at DC 167, who clicked his tongue.

"I activate the effect of Jutte Guard in my hand!" He declared, showing the card. "By discarding it when a monster my opponent controls declares an attack, I can halve all damage I take until the End Phase!"

"Nope!" Kuro abruptly said. "Glare of the Dracomet negates it!"

DC 167 paled. That wasn't good. He was going to lose.

DC 167 - LP: 8000 》5500

"Go, Grenade, Ganthara! Attack directly!"

DC 167 - LP: 5500 》0

DC 167's D-Wheel broke down, letting out steam as it slowed down abruptly, making the other three duelists leave him behind.

"Due to Ascension's effect, if the monster Special Summoned by its effect declared an attack during the Battle Phase, I can add an "Ice Barrier" card from my Graveyard to my hand during the end of the Battle Phase." Kira said, smirking. "I add Reinforcement of the Ice Barrier and activate it, drawing three cards."

She looked at the cards, before setting two of them. "I set two cards and end my turn. Also, Ganthara allows me to select and Special Summon an "Ice Barrier" monster from my Graveyard! I Special Summon the Practitioner of the Ice Barrier I discarded with Gungnir (LV: 2/ _ATK: 1300_ /DEF: 0)!" She ended her turn with three cards in her hand, passing the turn to DC 329.

"And Glare of the Dracomet is destroyed at the End Phase of the turn it was activated." Kuro dutifully supplied, grimacing as his card destroyed itself. "But, since I used all its negates, I draw a card."

"You kids are good." He smirked. "Too bad I can't use my real deck. My turn! I draw!"

Kuro blinked. 'Real Deck?' He mouthed to Kira, who shrugged, as DC 329 continued. "I summon Jutte Lord, and activate its effect to Special Summon Jutte Knight from my hand!"

Kuro frowned. "The same move? Man, how lame."

"You call it lame? Then how about this! I activate the effect of Sasumata Gardna in my hand, lowering Gungnir's attack by 500 (Gungnir: ATK: 2500 》2000) and Special Summoning it (LV: 3/ATK: 1000/ _DEF: 2000_ )!"

Kira scowled. "Dammit." She hated when Gungnir, or any of her dragons, really, was weakened. They were her reason for continuing to duel, instead of just helping Kuro, Yugo, and Rin.

"Furthermore, I activate Star Changer, reducing Sasumata Gardna's Level by one (Sasumata Gardna: LV: 3 》2)! Now, I tune the level 2 Jutte Knight with the Level 4 Jutte Lord and the Level 2 Sasumata Gardna! Synchro Summon! Level 8! Goyo King (LV: 8/ _ATK: 2800_ /DEF: 2000)!"

Kuro clicked his tongue. "That monster… At least it's the only "Goyo" monster on the field."

"I activate Synchro Reward! For every Synchro Monster on the field and Graveyard, I draw a card! There are four, counting Goyo Predator on 167's Graveyard, so I draw four cards!" DC 329 raised his hand to five. "Now I activate the Goyo Call I just drew, allowing me to Special Summon a "Goyo" monster from my Extra Deck with a lower Level than a "Goyo" monster I control with its effects negated, ignoring it's summoning conditions!"

"...Okay, dammit." Kuro cursed, sighing. "He's gonna call Goyo Defender with that thing. And then two more."

"Exactly! I summon Goyo Defender (LV: 3/ _ATK: 1000_ /DEF: 1000)! And since all monsters I control are Earth Warrior Synchro Monsters, I Special Summon two more Goyo Defenders, but they cannot attack this turn!" Three identical monsters appeared, causing Kuro to frown. Kira, on the other hand, remained impassive.

"Now battle! Goyo King attacks-" DC 329 began, before Kira interrupted him.

"As long as I control another "Ice Barrier" monster, Level 4 or higher monsters cannot attack thanks to Practitioner's effect!" She stated, grinning widely.

DC 329 clicked his tongue. "I set two cards and end my turn. And due to Synchro Reward's effect, I discard my entire hand."

"And back to me!" Kuro drew, looking around for a way out of the highway. Seeing none, he clicked his tongue, and accelerated, making their opponent accelerate as well to try and keep up. Looking at his five-card hand, he made his move. "I activate the Magic Summoning of the Dracomet, Special Summoning a "Dracomet" monster from my deck with a different Attribute than a "Dracomet" monster I control! Wangtianhou is a Light monster, so I Special Summon the Earth Attribute Bi'an, Dracomet of Earth (LV: 3/ _ATK: 1600 》2100_ /DEF: 0)!"

"Now, I tune the Level 5 Wangtianhou with the Level 3 Bi'an!" He declared, his monsters doing the standard Synchro Summoning animation.

"That Synchro Monster is a tuner!?" DC 329 exclaimed in surprise.

 _"Ancient dragon of blinding light, descend, here and now! Synchro Summon! Ascend to the Skies, Level 8! Gongfu, Dracomet of Brightness (LV: 8/_ ATK: 2300 》2800 _/DEF: 2600)!"_

The golden serpentine dragon with a dark red mane appeared, roaring. "Gongfu's effect! When it is Synchro Summoned, I can target cards on the field up to the number of original Attributes on the Wyrm monsters used as materials! With Earth and Light, I shuffle Goyo King and one of your Goyo Defenders back to your deck!"

"Goyo King's effect! When a monster was Summoned to my opponent's field, I can tribute a "Goyo" monster and take control of a Level 8 or lower monster my opponent controls! I Tribute one of my Goyo Defenders to take control of Gungnir!" DC 329 countered, revealing Goyo King's effect. "Furthermore, I activate my set card, the Trap Breakthrough Skill, targeting Gongfu and negating its effects until the End Phase!"

Kuro and Kira cursed in tandem. That guy was good. Better than most Duel Chasers they fought. Kuro narrowed his eyes. Well, Gongfu wasn't the only thing he could do. "Since Wangtianhou left the field, I can Special Summon a "Dracomet" monster from my deck! Come, Taotie, Dracomet of Evil (LV: 5/ _ATK: 2200 》2700_ /DEF: 0)!"

"Next up, I Normal Summon Jiaotu, Dracomet of Darkness (LV: 2/ _ATK: 0 》500_ /DEF: 2000)! And then, I tune the Level 2 Jiaotu with the Level 5 Taotie!"

 _"Ancient dragon of overflowing evil, descend, here and now! Synchro Summon! Ascend to the Skies, Level 7! Yazi, Dracomet of Wickedness (LV: 7/_ ATK: 2600 》3100 _/DEF: 2100)!"_

The black dragon appeared on the field, roaring.

"Goyo King's effect!" DC 329 abruptly cried out, startling the two.

"It's not once per turn!?" Kuro shouted, widening his eyes.

"I tribute a second Goyo Defender to take control of Yazi!" DC 329 declared, causing Kuro to chuckle.

"Sorry, but you can't target Yazi with card effects. And even if you could, a monster Synchro Summoned with Taotie cannot be taken control of!" Kuro revealed, smirking.

"Then I'll just take control of Gongfu!" The serpentine dragon briefly vanished, before reappearing alongside Gungnir.

"Kuro?" Kira asked, her voice flat and her expression blank.

"Gotcha." He looked back, narrowing his eyes at Gungnir. He knew how much the monster meant for Kira. That's why he'd ensure it would no stay on their opponent's control.

He looked at his Graveyard, seeing that he had Water, Fire, Light, Earth, and Dark attributes in it. He knew Kira would prevent her cards' destruction, so he had no qualms on using Leyline of Dracomet's last effect, that needed five different Attributes on the Graveyard. He closed his eyes for a moment, before opening them, resolve to win shining on them.

"Leyline of Dracomet's effect! Since I have five different Attributes in my Graveyard, I can send this card to the Graveyard in order to destroy all cards on the field!" He declared, the highway cracking, golden light emerging from the cracks.

"What!?" DC 329 exclaimed, not expecting such an effect from a Permanent Magic he had dismissed.

"Trap Card, Blizzard Ring of the Ice Barrier!" Kira said, revealing her Trap. "If an "Ice Barrier" monster I control would be destroyed by a card effect, I can tribute another to prevent my cards from being destroyed by card effects until the End Phase! I tribute Practitioner!"

A blizzard enshrouded Kira's field, as both Kuro's and DC 329's fields became bare when the golden light erupted from the cracks, disintegrating all cards on both fields. Soon, the golden light died down, leaving a destroyed highway behind.

"Since Yazi was destroyed by a card effect, I Special Summon a Wyrm monster from my deck in defense position! I summon a second copy of Jiaotu!" The strange plated monster appeared again. "Then, I activate Path of the Dracomet, shuffling three "Dracomet" monsters in my Graveyard into my deck, and drawing two cards! I shuffle Jiaotu, Yazi, and Gongfu!"

He drew his cards, raising his hand to four, and looked at it. "Jiaotu's effect! By discarding two "Dracomet" cards, such as Pulao, Dracomet of Wind, and Creation of Dracomet, I can Special Summon two "Dracomet" monsters from my deck, one with zero attack, and one with zero defense! I Special Summon my second copies of Bixi and Taotie!"

"And since Jiaotu is a Tuner…" DC 329 muttered. "A Level 9 Synchro? Or, he'll summon a second copy of Wangtianhou and go for a Level 10 Synchro… Wait, my math is wrong with the latter."

"I tune my Level 2 Jiaotu with the Level 2 Bixi and the Level 5 Taotie!" Once more, the summoning animation played out, as Kuro chanted.

 _"Ancient dragon of ascended spirits, descend, here and now! Synchro Summon! Ascend to the Skies, Level 9! Chaofeng, Dracomet of Phantoms (LV: 9/_ ATK: 2800 _/DEF: 2200)!"_

The multicolored feathered serpentine dragon appeared, roaring.

"As long as Chaofeng is on the field, you can't activate effects of Dark and Water monsters!" Kuro declared. "Next, I activate Transcendence of the Dracomet, drawing a card for every different Attribute in my Graveyard!"

"And with Water, Earth, Wind, Fire, Light, and Dark…" Kira grinned, eager for their opponent's punishment.

"I draw six!" Kuro drew, raising his hand to seven. "Then, a "Dracomet" Synchro Monster I control gains 300 attack for each Attribute there is (Chaofeng: ATK: 2800 》4600)!"

"Now battle! Chaofeng attacks you directly!" Kuro declared.

"Trap Card, Chilling Rage of the Polar Ocean!" Kira spoke abruptly, her set card flipping open. "When a monster declares an attack, it gains 500 attack for every Water monster in the Graveyard! With two in Kuro's and six in mine, it gains 4000 attack (Chaofeng: ATK: 4600 》8600)!"

An icy aura covered Chaofeng, as it gathered energy in its mouth. "Go! Transcendent Tempest!"

DC 329 - LP: 8000 》0

Kira and Kuro Win!

As DC 329's D-Wheel broke down and the two youths left him behind, he smirked. "It was nice to see you again, kids." He muttered. "And we'll meet again."

Unaware of DC 329's words, Kuro and Kira exhaled a sigh of relief in tandem. "Fuck, that was completely unnecessary." Kuro grumbled, revving up his D-Wheel and accelerating, searching for a good spot to jump from the highway.

"You tell me." Kira scowled, putting her arms around Kuro as he accelerated, not wanting to be thrown away by the momentum. "Now come on. Let's go home."

Kuro grimaced. "Yeah… Let's."

* * *

 _Xyz Dimension_

"Mei! Kisuke!" A young man called out amidst the chaos, as civilians and duelists alike ran away from Academia's assault. He had black hair and dark blue eyes, and wore a dark green long-sleeved shirt, torn black pants and dark green boots. A black and purple Duel Disk was strapped to his arm. "Come on…!"

Ever since the start of the invasion, Academia had been relentless with its attacks, only retreating when its own soldiers tired out. The Diamond Branch of Heartland Duel School had been annihilated, while the Heart Branch had gone into hiding, Anna being the contact between the hiding branch and the Spade and Clover Branches. Now, however, Academia seemed decided in annihilating the Spade Branch next, what with they deploying the Tyler Sisters.

"What the hell!?" The young man exclaimed, clutching his head. "It's as if we have a traitor- Wait."

A traitor! Of course! That was how they managed to deliver such a crippling blow to Heartland's Duelists! The young man shook his head. No time for that. He's in the middle of the fighting, he needed to find his friends!

"Dad! Haruto!" Or not.

"Kaito!" The young man said, running full throttle towards Clover's strongest duelist, who just stared brokenly at the carded members of his family. "Dammit!"

"Masaro…?" Kaito asked, looking at the young man as he stood between his crouched form and the Obelisk Force members that had carded Haruto and Dr. Faker. "What…?"

"Run, Kaito! I'll take care of them!" Masaro snapped, before activating his Duel Disk, the Obelisk Force members doing the same in turn.

"Well, boys, looks like we have a nice prize here!" Red said, grinning.

"I'll say!" Green laughed. "Not only we delivered a blow into Clover's best duelist, but we have engaged one of the Top Priorities!"

"Top Priorities?" Masaro parroted, confused.

"Oh, you don't know?" Yellow mocked. "What am I saying, of course you don't know! A Top Priority is a duelist that is dangerous to Academia's noble goal! Both you and Tenjo Kaito are Top Priorities, Yamazaki Masaro!"

"Who are the others!?" Masaro demanded, glaring at the Obelisk Force. That wasn't good. He was a target.

"I don't know why we should tell you." Yellow admitted. "But you'll soon be eliminated, so I think I can tell you the others. They are: Tsukumo Yuma, Kozuki Anna, Kamishiro Ryoga, Kamishiro Rio, Mizael, Vector, Byron Arclight, Kurosaki Shun, and Hirako Yuto!"

"Most of them are from the Heart Branch…!" Masaro widened his eyes. So that was why they went into hiding!

"But enough talk!" Red barked. "Let's eliminate him!"

[Duel!]

Masaro - LP: 8000

Obelisk Red - LP: 8000

Obelisk Green - LP: 8000

Obelisk Yellow - LP: 8000

"I'll go first!" Masaro stated, before any of his opponents had the opportunity to do so. Their scowls and growls of displeasure were enough for him to know it was a good move. "I summon Verz Castor (LV: 4/ _ATK: 1750_ /DEF: 550), and activate its effect, allowing me to Normal Summon again! Come, Verz Heliolope (LV: 4/ _ATK: 1950_ /DEF: 650)!"

"Two Level 4 monsters." Green said, narrowing his eyes.

"It's coming." Red stated.

"Now, with my two Level 4 monsters, I build the Overlay Network!" Masaro declared, a yellow galaxy appearing in front of him, as he chanted.

 _"Chilling dragon of boiling wrath, succumb to the corruption and spread your dark ice over the horizon! Xyz Summon! Descend, Rank 4! Verz Ophion (RNK: 4/_ ATK: 2550 _/DEF: 1650)!"_

The dragon appeared on the field, roaring in anger.

"As long as Verz Ophion is on the field, neither player can Special Summon Level 5 or higher monsters!" Masaro said, glaring at his opponents.

"And that monster is the reason Yamazaki Masaro is a Top Priority." Yellow stated, narrowing his eyes at the monster that defeated many members of Academia.

"By detaching one Overlay Unit, I add an "Invasion" card from my deck to my hand thanks to Ophion's effect." He continued. "I add Sudden Invasion of the Corrupted, and activate it! With it, I Special Summon a "Verz" monster from my Graveyard and another from my deck! Come, Verz Heliolope and Verz Kaitos (LV: 4/ _ATK: 1750_ /DEF: 1050)!"

The monsters appeared on the field. "Now, with my two Level 4 monsters, I build the Overlay Network!" The yellow galaxy portal appeared, as Masaro chanted.

 _"Earthen knight, succumb to the corruption and spread your false chivalry over the horizon! Xyz Summon! Descend, Rank 4! Verz Nightmare (RNK: 4/ATK: 950/_ DEF: 1950 _)!"_

"I activate Xyz Treasure, drawing two cards since there are two Xyz Monsters on the field." He drew, and looked at his three-card hand. "I set two cards and end my turn!"

"My turn!" Red stated. "Draw! I activate the Magic Antique Gear Assault! With it, since my opponent controls more monsters than I do, I Special Summon three "Antique Gear" monsters with the same name from my deck, but they cannot declare an attack! I Special Summon Antique Gear Hound Dog (LV: 4/ _ATK: 1000_ /DEF: 1000 x3)!"

"Verz Nightmare's effect!" Masaro interrupted. "When my opponent Special Summons a monster, I can detach an Overlay Unit to change it to face-down defense position! Go! Corruption Intimidation!"

His monster swung its sword, causing a gust of dark wind to force the three Hound Dogs into face-down defense.

"Tch!" Red clicked his tongue. "I set three cards and end my turn!"

"My turn! I draw!" Green drew. "I also activate Antique Gear Assault, Special Summoning three Hound Dogs!"

"Corruption Intimidation!" Another swing, another gust of black wind, and the new Hound Dogs were changed into set monsters.

"But now your monster has used up its effect!" Green smirked. "I set three cards and end!"

"I draw!" Yellow declared, drawing a card.

"Trap Card, Corrosive Violence of the Invasion!" Masaro abruptly stated. "By banishing a "Verz" monster on the field, I can destroy all Magic or Trap cards my opponent controls, and prevent them from setting any Magic or Traps for the rest of this turn! I banish Verz Nightmare!"

"Kuh-!" Red grunted, as both his and Green's set cards were blown away by another gust of black wind.

"That does nothing to me!" Yellow stated. "I also activate Antique Gear Assault! Come, Antique Gear Hound Dog!"

"Trap Card, Other Dimension Rebirth!" Masaro's second set card flipped open. "I Special Summon a banished Xyz Monster and attach this card to it as an Overlay Unit! Come, Verz Nightmare!" The monster reappeared on the field.

"Wait… That means-!"

"Yes!" Masaro interrupted Yellow. "Nightmare! Corruption Intimidation!"

Three more Hound Dogs were set, and since Yellow couldn't do anything else, he just ended his turn.

"My turn!" Masaro drew, looking at the two cards on his hand. "I activate Xyz Sacrifice, banishing a Rank 6 or lower Xyz monster I control in order to draw a card for every Rank it has. I banish Nightmare to draw four cards! Furthermore, I detach the last unit from Ophion to add Pandemic Contagion of the Invasion to my hand."

"Moving on, I Normal Summon Verz Kerykeion (LV: 4/ _ATK: 1600_ /DEF: 1550)! And I activate its effect, banishing Verz Heliolope from my Graveyard in order to add Verz Castor from my Graveyard to my hand. And since this effect resolved successfully, I can Normal Summon a "Verz" Monster. Return to the field, Castor!"

The warrior reappeared, and Masaro wasted no time in using its effect, Normal Summoning Verz Olanta (LV: 4/ _ATK: 1650_ /DEF: 1250). "Now, with my three Level 4 monsters, I build the Overlay Network!"

 _"Chilling dragon of the three spears, succumb to the corruption and spread your dark blizzard over the horizon! Xyz Summon! Descend, Rank 4! Verz Ouroboros (RNK: 4/_ ATK: 2750 _/DEF: 1950)!"_

The corrupted three-headed dragon appeared on the field, roaring.

"Verz Ouroboros' effect! By detaching an Overlay Unit, I can activate one of three effects. I activate the second, sending a random card from your hands to the Graveyard!" He stated, the dragon roaring as an orb was consumed. The results were both Red and Green having only one card on their hands, while Yellow had four.

Masaro looked at his four-card hand, and smirked. "I activate the Equip Magic Unrelenting Darkness!" A dark miasma appeared around Ouroboros, causing it to roar. "I can only equip it to the Dark monster with highest attack I control. Now, Ouroboros can attack every monster my opponent controls once each, but it cannot attack directly if it does."

"That means…!" Red gasped, widening his eyes as he read the card's effects on his Duel Disk.

"Yes!" Masaro snarled. "But before that, I'll activate the Permanent Magic Tenacious Force of the Dark. Now battle! Verz Ouroboros, attack all set Hunting Hounds!"

"But they're in defense position, so we'll take no damage!" Yellow cried out, sweating nervously at the menacing monster.

"No." Red interrupted. "Unrelenting Darkness allows the equipped monster to inflict piercing damage."

"That means…" Green did some quick math on his head. "We each take 5250 points of damage!"

"Exactly!" Masaro grinned viciously. "Go, Ouroboros! Infinity Dark Blizzard!"

Red, Green, Yellow - LP: 8000 》2750

"Now, Ophion will attack you!" He pointed at Yellow. "And thanks to Tenacious Force of the Dark, once per turn, if a Dark monster I control battles, it gains 300 attack for every Dark monster on the field! With two, it gains 600 (Verz Ophion: ATK: 2550 》3150)! Go! Dark Frost Burn!"

Yellow - LP: 2750 》0

"With this, I end the Battle Phase, Ophion's attack returning to normal (Ophion: ATK: 3150 》2550). I set two cards and end my turn, with Unrelenting Darkness' final effect allowing me to draw a card for every two monsters the equipped monster destroyed by battle. With nine, I draw four cards." He looked at the cards and smirked, while mentally noting the monsters on his Graveyard, that is, Kerykeion and Kaitos.

"My turn!" Red drew, nervous. Yellow had just been one-turn-killed, and he and Green had been dealt huge damage. Looking at the card he drew, he sighed in relief. "I activate Antique Gear Dismantling Compensation! With this, I draw a card for every "Antique Gear" monster on my Graveyard that was sent there on the previous turn! With my tree Hounds, I draw three cards!"

Masaro narrowed his eyes. That meant Red could possibly issue a comeback.

"Furthermore, I activate Antique Gear Double Imitate, Special Summoning two copies of Antique Gear Hound Dog from Yellow's Graveyard with their effects negated!" The two mechanical dogs appeared on the field.

"And finally, I release both Hound Dogs to Advance Summon Antique Gear Dire Wolf (Earth/Machine/Effect/Level 7/ _ATK 2700_ /DEF 1500)!" A large mechanical wolf appeared on the field.

"Dire Wolf gains 300 attack for every "Antique Gear" monsters in each player's Graveyard. With nine, its attack is effectively doubled (Dire Wolf: ATK: 2700 》5400)!" Red stated, causing Green to smirk and Masaro to frown.

"Battle! Antique Gear Dire Wolf attacks Verz Ophion!" The wolf charged. "In addition, when Dire Wolf attacks, the opponent cannot activate Magic or Trap cards!"

Ophion was the wolf's unfortunate victim, as Masaro shielded his face from the aftermath.

Masaro - LP: 8000 》5150

"I activate the Quick-Play Rank-Up-Magic Invasion Force!" Masaro's first set card flipped open. "I Special Summon a "Verz" Xyz Monster that was destroyed by battle this turn, and rank it up into a "Verz" Xyz Monster with a higher Rank! Return, Ophion, and become the stepping stone to victory!"

Green started, with wide eyes. "What!?"

"A Rank-Up-Magic!?" Red exclaimed in surprise.

The corrupted dragon returned, before turning into a stream of dark purple light and going inside of a yellow galaxy, as Masaro chanted.

 _"Frozen dragon of the cold prison, be unbound from your shackles to spread the corruption beyond the horizon! Rank-Up Xyz Change! Descend, Rank 8! Counterverz Tiamat (Dark/Dragon/Xyz/Effect/Rank 8/_ ATK: 3750 _/DEF: 2950)!"_

A three-headed white and icy blue dragon covered in sharp dark armor appeared, letting out a resounding roar that paused the fighting for a moment. Many members of the Resistance recognised it as Masaro's monster.

"Tiamat?" Kaito wondered, being rooted to the spot since Masaro had appeared to confront the soldiers who carded his father and brother. "That dragon…"

Red clicked his tongue. "I set a card and end my turn!"

"My turn!" Green stated, drawing a card. "I activate Antique Gear Junkyard Fusion! By banishing "Antique Gear" monsters from both players' graveyards, I can perform a Fusion Summon! I banish Yellow's three Hound Dogs plus one of mine!"

 _"Mechanical hounds who carry the ancient spirits, flock together and become one with new power! Fusion Summon! Appear now! Level 10! Antique Gear Chaos Giant (LV: 10/_ ATK: 4500 _/DEF: 3000)!"_

"Battle! Antique Gear Chaos Giant, attack Verz Ouroboros! Furthermore, Chaos Giant is unaffected by Magic and Trap effects, your monsters cannot activate their effects during the Battle Phase, it can attack all monsters my opponent controls, and inflict piercing damage! You're finished!" Green gloated, grinning victoriously.

"No." Masaro abruptly stated. "As long as Tiamat is on the field, Level 5 or higher monsters have their effects negated."

Green widened his eyes. "What!?"

"Tenacious Force of the Dark's effect! Ouroboros gains 900 attack, with three Dark monsters on the field (Ouroboros: ATK: 2750 》3650)! Furthermore, my Permanent Magic prevents Ouroboros' destruction!" Masaro declared, glaring at his opponents.

Masaro - LP: 5150 》4300

"Tch!" Green clicked his tongue, glaring back at Masaro. "I end my turn with this (Ouroboros: ATK: 3650 》2750)!"

"My turn!" Masaro drew. "Ouroboros' effect! By detaching an Overlay Unit, I activate its first effect, returning your Chaos Giant to your Extra Deck!"

Green paled. He was now defenseless. He hadn't drawn any Quick-Play Magics, Traps, or Hand Traps. "Tiamat's effect! By detaching one Overlay Unit, I can banish a Dragon monster from my Deck or Extra Deck, and in turn, banish a monster you control! I banish Verz Bahamut from my Extra Deck in order to banish your Dire Wolf!"

With both members of the Obelisk Force defenseless, Masaro went for the kill. "Battle!"

"I activate the Permanent Trap, Fusion Trench!" Red declared, his set card flipping open. "Only Fusion Monsters can declare an attack!"

Masaro's expression hardened. "And do you think I didn't plan for this, scum? I activate the Quick-Play Magic, Pandemic Contagion of the Invasion! Now, "Verz" monsters I control are unaffected by Magic or Trap Cards!"

"That's the card you added through Ophion's effect on your last turn…!" Green grit his teeth in anger.

"Exactly! Now meet your end, scum!" Masaro shouted, anger and hatred coursing through his mind and twisting his face. "Suffer like you made the denizens of this dimension suffer! Ouroboros! Tiamat! Attack them directly! Infinity Dark Blizzard and Frozen Creation of Darkness!"

The two monsters roared, before Ouroboros flapped its wings, generating a large dark-colored blizzard, and Tiamat unleashed a sea of blackened frozen mud.

Red and Green - LP: 2750 》0

Masaro Wins!

After seeing Red and Green vanish into the blue particles, just like Yellow had done, Masaro sighed as he deactivated his Duel Disk. He turned to look at Kaito, before helping the elder youth get to his feet. "You heard them. We're targets."

"What should we do, then?" Kaito frowned. The sounds of battle around them was slowly vanishing, as members of the Resistance were either carded or escaped.

"...Leave. Wander through Heartland and find the Heart Branch." Masaro stated grimly, as Kaito pocketed the cards of his family. "They hid so that the other Top Priorities wouldn't make them a bigger target. We should reach them to do the same and not paint a target on the rest of the Resistance's backs."

"...Lead the way."

Masaro nodded, before he and Kaito ran away from the fighting, drawing as many attention from the Academia soldiers as possible, in order to create a distraction for the Resistance to escape. "Come, Verz Ophion! Dark Frost Burn!"

"Come, Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon! Cipher Stream of Destruction!"

If they weren't enough, then their monsters surely were.

* * *

"So? What should we do?" A young man asked, crossing his arms behind his head. He had messy black hair and emerald green eyes, and wore a black jacket with gold trims over a black t-shirt, white sweatpants, and black sneakers. He wore a shield-like sea green Duel Disk with beige trims.

One of his companions frowned, deep in thought. "I don't know, Ryuuken. You somehow managed to calm down Yuri from his rampage upon discovering that his surrogate sister had been kidnapped, but the Professor is likely to keep you, and by association, us, here in Fusion. At least for the next few days. If only to keep Yuri in check."

Said companion had messy silver hair tied in a ponytail, grey eyes, and wore a black jacket over a gray shirt, light blue jeans, and black and white shoes. He was currently leaning against a wall, his arms crossed. Ryuuken frowned in response to his companion's words, before sighing. "You're probably right, Kanjo. Dammit. By the way, where's Raijin? I noticed he wasn't with you."

Kanjo deadpanned at Ryuuken, before pointing at a seemingly random direction. As the black-haired youth looked in that direction, he adopted the same deadpan look as Kanjo. Raijin was a dark green-haired youth the same age as the former two, with blue eyes, and wore a dark blue hoodie, black pants and white shoes. And he was currently glaring at nothing.

"Honestly, he's like one of these anime characters obsessed with revenge." Kanjo grumbled, lowering his arm. "I didn't want to babysit him, but no, someone has to run damage control."

Ryuuken patted his friend's shoulder, a sympathetic expression on his face. "Sucks to be you. Now, if you don't mind me, I'm going to check on Yuri."

"Don't embarrass him." Kanjo replied tiredly, not taking his eyes off Raijin. "Last time you did, I had to listen to him complaining about 'Ryuuken-nii'. Honestly, I'm surprised he didn't turn psychotic, what with Sanders down there."

Ryuuken gave Kanjo a 'no promises' smile, that soon vanished as he walked away, memories shooting past his head, in particular one that was the catalyst for Yuri's current personality. Said boy with glowing purple eyes, the shadow of a large demonic dragon emerging behind him as he confronted someone with the same face as him.

...Ryuuken would not allow that to pass.

* * *

 _Heyo. SoulMatter here, with the newest chapter of Dusk Revolution. This time, I'm starting by emphasizing the fact that this fic, much like Dawn of Twilight, from Haoh Ryu Z-ARC, has many characters. Seriously, go read that fic. It's awesome. Ahem! Back to Dusk Revolution. Here, I have pretty much derailed a nice part of canon by having Yuya meet up with Kurosaki and Yuto properly. You may argue that I had already done that with the girls' rescue. Yes, I did. But with this, canon has been derailed even further. There will be an explanation for Yuzu's bracelet not teleporting one of the boys away down the line, don't worry._

 _Anywho, this chapter introduces us to Kira, Kuro, and Masaro, wielders of the Yang Zings, Ice Barriers and Evilswarms. Their duels were fun to write, even with me focusing on other drafts, and I genuinely liked writing them, what is a first to me. Usually, I don't really like writing duels with actual archetypes, but these ones were actually fun._

 _And now, my favorite characters of Dusk Revolution: Ryuuken, Kanjo, and Raijin. They'll be recurring antagonists, so be sure to keep an eye out for them! Now, onto the OC Cards! Happy New Year, everyone!_

* * *

Kuro's Cards:

 **Summoning of the Dracomet** (Magic/Normal)

Effect: Target a "Dracomet" monster you control; Special Summon a "Dracomet" monster with a different Attribute from your deck. If you have five or more different Attributes in your Graveyard when this card is activated, you can draw a card for every different Attribute on the field. You can only activate one "Summoning of the Dracomet" per turn.

 **Transcendence of the Dracomet** (Magic/Normal)

Effect: Draw a card for every different Attribute in your Graveyard; After this effect resolves, if possible, target a "Dracomet" Synchro Monster you control. It gains 300 ATK for every different Attribute. You can only activate one "Transcendence of Dracomet" per turn.

 **Curse of Dracomet** (Trap/Normal)

Effect: When your opponent Special Summons a monster with a different Attribute than a "Dracomet" monster you control; Negate its effects, and if you do, draw a card for every monster with the same Attribute as the Summoned monster in your opponent's Graveyard. You can only activate one "Curse of Dracomet" per turn.

 **Glare of Dracomet** (Trap/Permanent)

Effect: During the turn this card was activated; You can negate your opponent's card effect once for every different Attribute in your Graveyard the moment this card was activated. During the End Phase, destroy this card, and if you negated the same number of effects as there were different Attributes in the Graveyard when this card was activated; Draw a card. You can only activate one "Glare of Dracomet" per turn.

Kira's Cards:

 **Watchman of the Ice Barrier** (Water/Spellcaster/Effect/Level 5/ATK 2000/DEF 200)

Effect: If this card was sent to the Graveyard by an "Ice Barrier" Synchro Monster's effect; Draw a card for every Synchro Monster on the field. Monsters your opponent controls cannot target "Ice Barrier" monsters you control with card effects. If an "Ice Barrier" monster you controls is attacked by your opponent's monster; It gains 500 ATK.

 **Reinforcement of the Ice Barrier** (Magic/Normal)

Effect: Draw a card for every "Ice Barrier" monster you control.

 **Ascension of the Ice Barrier** (Magic/Permanent)

Effect: Once per turn, you can select an "Ice Barrier" monster you control; Special Summon an "Ice Barrier" monster with a lower Level from your hand. During the end of your Battle Phase, if a monster Special Summoned by this card's effect declared an attack, you can add an "Ice Barrier" card from your Graveyard to your hand.

 **Blizzard Ring of the Ice Barrier** (Trap/Normal)

Effect: If an "Ice Barrier" monster you control would be destroyed by a card effect; You can tribute an "Ice Barrier" monster you control to prevent all other cards you control from being destroyed by card effects until the End Phase.

 **Chilling Rage of the Polar Ocean** (Trap/Normal)

Effect: When a monster declares an attack; It gains 500 ATK for every Water monster in both players' Graveyards until the End Phase, and it cannot be destroyed by battle, except by a Fire monster.

DC 167's Cards:

 **Jutte Guard** (Earth/Warrior/Tuner/Effect/Level 1/ATK 100/DEF 300)

Effect: When a monster your opponent controls declares an attack, you can discard this monster; Halve all the damage you take until the End Phase. During your opponent's Battle Phase, if this card is in your Graveyard, except during the turn it was sent there; Banish his monster from your Graveyard, and if you do, end the Battle Phase. You can only activate one effect of "Jutte Guard" per turn, and only once that turn.

 **Goyo Protection** (Trap/Normal)

Effect: If a "Goyo" monster you control would be destroyed by battle or card effect; Negate its destruction and draw a card. You can banish this card from your Graveyard; Special Summon a "Goyo" monster from your Graveyard in attack position.

DC 329's Cards

 **Synchro Reward** (Magic/Normal)

Effect: Draw a card for every Synchro Monster in either player's field and Graveyard, but send all cards in your hand to the Graveyard during the End Phase. You can only activate one "Synchro Reward" per turn.

 **Goyo Call** (Magic/Normal)

Effect: If you control a "Goyo" Synchro Monster; Special Summon a "Goyo" Synchro Monster from the Extra Deck with its effects negated from your Extra Deck, ignoring its Summoning Conditions, but it cannot declare an attack.

Masaro's Cards:

 **Counterverz Tiamat** (Dark/Dragon/Xyz/Effect/Rank 8/ATK 3750/DEF 2950)

Effect: 3 Level 8 "Verz" monsters

Level 5 or higher monsters on the field have their effects negated. Once per turn, you can detach one Xyz Material from this card; Activate 1 of the following effects:

● Banish a Dragon monster from your Deck or Extra Deck; Target and banish a monster your opponent controls.

● Banish a Level 4 or lower "Verz" monster from your hand; Target and banish cards from your opponent's field and Graveyard for every Level the banished monster had.

 **Sudden Invasion of the Corrupted** (Magic/Normal)

Effect: If you control a "Verz" Xyz Monster; Special Summon 2 "Verz" monsters, one from your Graveyard and one from your deck with their effects negated. You can only activate one "Sudden Invasion of the Corrupted" per turn.

 **Xyz Sacrifice** (Magic/Normal)

Effect: Target a Rank 6 or lower Xyz Monster you control; Banish it, and draw a card for every Rank it had.

 **Unrelenting Darkness** (Magic/Equip)

Effect: This card can only be equipped to the Dark monster with highest ATK you control. The monster equipped with this card can attack all monsters your opponent controls once each, and if it does, it cannot attack directly during the Battle Phase it attacked a monster. The monster equipped with this card can inflict Piercing Damage. During the End Phase; Draw a card for every two monsters the equipped monster destroyed by battle.

 **Tenacious Force of the Dark** (Magic/Permanent)

Effect: If a Dark monsters you control would be destroyed by battle; Negate the destruction. Once per turn (Quick Effect): If a Dark monster you control battles, it gains 300 ATK for every Dark monster on the field until the end of the Battle Phase.

 **Rank-Up-Magic Invasion Force** (Magic/Quick-Play)

Effect: Target a "Verz" Xyz Monster that was destroyed by battle and eiter sent to the Graveyard or banished this turn; Special Summon it, and if you do, Xyz Summon a "Verz" Xyz Monster with a higher Rank than the Summoned monster from the Extra Deck, using it as material. If the monster is summoned successfully, your opponent's Xyz Monsters lose 1000 ATK for every Xyz Material they have.

 **Corrosive Violence of the Invasion** (Trap/Normal)

Effect: You can banish a "Verz" monster you control; Destroy all Magic and Trap cards your opponent controls, and they cannot Set any Magic or Trap cards until the End Phase.

 **Other Dimension Rebirth** (Trap/Normal)

Effect: Target a Dark Xyz Monster on your Banished Zone; Special Summon it in attack position, and attach this card to it as a Xyz Material. You can only activate one "Other Dimension Rebirth" per turn.

Obelisk Force's Cards:

 **Antique Gear Dire Wolf** (Earth/Machine/Effect/Level 7/ATK 2700/DEF 1500)

Effect: If this card was Advance Summoned; This monster gains 300 ATK for each "Antique Gear" monster in either player's Graveyard. When this monster declares an attack, your opponent cannot activate Magic or Trap cards until the end of the Damage Step.

 **Antique Gear Assault** (Magic/Normal)

Effect: If your opponent controls more monsters than you do: Special Summon up to 3 monsters with the same name from your deck. You can only activate one "Antique Gear Assault" per turn.

 **Antique Gear Dismantling Compensation** (Magic/Normal)

Effect: Draw a card for every "Antique Gear" monster in your Graveyard that was sent there the previous turn. You can only activate one "Antique Gear Dismantling Compensation" once per turn.

 **Antique Gear Junkyard Fusion** (Magic/Normal)

Effect: Fusion Summon an "Antique Gear" monster by banishing "Antique Gear" monsters from either player's Graveyard. You can only activate one "Antique Gear Junkyard Fusion" per turn.


End file.
